


Distortions

by Arabesqueangel



Series: Time Stone [4]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, As in a different one, I don't like it either, I know, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), King Thor (Marvel), Loki & Bucky Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Feels, M/M, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not enough Tony, POV Loki (Marvel), POV Tony Stark, Shapeshifter Loki (Marvel), Skrull(s), Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-10-22 17:29:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17666948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arabesqueangel/pseuds/Arabesqueangel
Summary: Everything is just peachy, Loki and Tony are in a cozy, committed relationship, no more Thanos, Loki has his brother, the Avengers are back together, what could possibly go wrong?Except, you know, Tony and Loki are arguing because someone can't commit, Loki refuses to join the Avengers and Dr. Strange is seriously done with Loki's shit.Enjoy!





	1. Full Metal Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I'm totally in the middle of Son of Chaos and I totally have it all plotted it out (and by me I mean Rabentochter who is far more clever than I could ever be) but this story entered my brain and will not leave. I figured I just needed to lean into the skid, get this out there and then I can go back to the other story. 
> 
> Also, I know it's months away (but only two holy crap I am seriously not ready) but I felt the need to get this out before Endgame. I feel like I am either going to be completely heartbroken or inspired by the movie so let's just get this out now.
> 
> Also, look at me! It doesn't have Time in the name. Branching out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapter title theme (since apparently I can't be original and need themes) is 70's to 80's movies. Enjoy.

The fight was seriously boring, like Downton Abbey boring. Tony had no idea why Strange had called in for backup anyways. Maybe he had been giving the rogue wizard a bit too much credit. Sure, Manhattan losing all electricity was damned inconvenient, but the guy himself was pretty much a pushover. It didn’t give the Avengers who had been around to respond much to do besides damage control. Tony hated damage control. He kinda just wanted to punch something. But no, they were supposed to leave the hitting to the Sorcerer Supreme, he was the only one who could deal with those trained in the mystical arts, apparently. Three guesses as to how Loki had taken that. 

Actually, Loki had taken it pretty well, mainly just letting out a derisive snort. That should have made Tony suspicious at the time, but as Loki had repeatedly insisted that he had no interest in helping the Avengers, Tony hadn’t thought much of it. Tony may be a genius, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be an idiot sometimes. Loki had spent the last half hour going all Mystery Science Theater 3000 on their asses, doing absolutely nothing to help and tying up the coms in the process. 

“Tony, why did you even give him a com if he isn’t going to help?” Captain America finally snapped, pausing in his helping the police setting up traffic patterns, after Loki had commented that his ass looked like it was filling out the suit a little more than usual. Tony snickered and was absolutely not overthinking the fact that Loki had obviously been staring at Roger’s ass to come to that determination. He was sure that had nothing to do with their earlier conversation. Yeah, that’s what it was, a conversation. 

“I’m not that whipped, Steve.” Tony interjected huffily. 

“Just barely,” Loki snorted. Ok, he was seriously going to pay for that one. 

“I definitely did not give him one.” Tony said, ignoring Loki’s jab, because that was the best possible punishment for now. If there was anything Loki couldn’t stand it was being ignored. “Unfortunately, he has magic. It’s kind of tough to keep anything from him if he wants it.” 

Steve sighed. “Loki, what would it take to get you to help us in this?” 

“You would have to make helping you more entertaining than distracting you.” Loki responded promptly. Tony knew that Loki was only being this difficult because he knew the stakes were low. If there were any real danger he’d help, or at least not hinder. Tony was 97% sure. Ok, maybe more like 91%, Loki was kind of annoyed with him. 

“Why are you wasting your time? He’s hopeless.” Black Widow decided to join in the argument. 

“Am I to take it that you aren’t enjoying the pink, Natasha? Shame, it’s so flattering on you.” Loki replied sweetly. Tony suppressed a snicker. Widow was currently assisting the Cap with a head of bright pink locks. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she growled or beat Loki up, or tried to at least, during training, she could not intimidate him into quitting his perpetual quest to change her hair to something other than blonde. It was amusing as hell, though no one but Loki would actually admit it for fear of Natasha’s wrath. 

“How about quiet?” This time it was Bucky bargaining. “We’d settle for quiet.” 

It wouldn’t have surprised Tony if Loki actually listened. He and Bucky had caught on like a house on fire. Tony was finally to the point where it didn’t bother him, much. He understood why their particular backgrounds would lead to some male bonding. And when all Tony really wanted was everyone to be happy and get along, not that he’d admit that to anyone, he couldn’t deny that both of them seemed far more content. Hell, Loki was really the only other person Barnes would tease and joke with besides Steve. Steve and Tony had joined together in mutual consternation, something that was likely all a part of Loki’s evil plan if Tony knew the bastard, and he definitely did. 

“How dull,” Loki moaned. “But if you insist; I will not speak another word. ‘That man that hath a tongue, I say is no man.’” 

Tony groaned, Loki had something annoying planned that didn’t require speaking. Bucky hadn’t learned Loki-speak well enough to bargain yet; or he was just looking to watch the world burn. Who could say? Iron Man stopped scouting for civilians in danger and started looking for a certain green and black clad god. He knew Loki had to be around here somewhere, it was far more fun if he could see the results of his mischief in person. He was also very likely not invisible since retaliation was part of what he enjoyed about pranking the Avengers. 

Tony was still searching when a loud, crackling sound flooded the coms. Tony winced and then frowned. He had designed these communication devices personally. There was nothing that should interfere with them like this. Tony was wondering if it was something to do with the magic being thrown around by Strange and the wannabe when the wizard himself spoke. 

“Is someone eating popcorn?” Strange sounded utterly offended. 

Tony barked a laugh. “Loki!” He admonished, but he could only manage to sound about half serious. Honestly, if it wasn’t for his lover he’d be bored to tears right now. 

There was a low, sultry chuckle that was definitely Loki, but as he had told Bucky he wouldn’t speak another word, there was no answer. 

“Take off the com if you are going to eat. In fact, why don’t you just take it out anyways?” Natasha yelled. 

More munching. 

“Really Loki? Popcorn? Isn’t that overdone?” Steve said. Tony was secretly impressed. He hadn’t anticipated that Steve might just learn how to play Loki. This would usually be the correct way to get him to stop, but unfortunately since he didn’t have intimate knowledge of the Jotun’s eating habits, he didn’t realize he was off-base. 

“It’s not popcorn.” Tony said. “I wish it was popcorn. Normal people munch on popcorn. They’re his damn wasabi peas.” 

The confused silence was palpable. 

“I thought he didn’t like spicy food.” Bucky responded bemusedly. 

“He doesn’t.” Tony agreed. “He only eats these because they’re green. It’s absurd and obsessive.” 

“I’ll have you know that it is a completely different spice system. I have a fierce dislike for foods with an excess of capsaicin. Wasabi, mustard and horseradish all get their spice from an oil called AITC, a different thing entirely. I like that type of heat and it has nothing to do with the snack being green, Stark!” Loki snapped. 

“So much for not another word.” Tony responded with a cheeky grin that he really hoped Loki could see from wherever he was. Loki growled in frustration. 

“Yes, this is all very fascinating and not at all distracting.” Strange grunted. 

“Yes, how about we keep the old married couple bickering to a minimum and concentrate on getting the city power back online? Stark, do you have anything?” Black Widow responded. 

Old married couple bickering, huh? He’d get with Loki later on how to get Natasha back for that one. After the make-up sex that Tony was already looking forward to. 

“Based on looking at the relays, the magic is basically cutting off the power as it comes into the city. There’s nothing I can do from a mechanical perspective. Nothing is broken. We take out the magic user, we take out the magic and boom, Manhattan gets its power back. How’s that coming, Strange?” 

“Just fine, thanks.” The wizard said through clenched teeth. 

“Are you sure you don’t want some help from us pitiful, non-magic using amateurs over here?” Tony couldn’t help adding. He was rewarded with a chuckle from Loki. 

Strange just responded with a grunt of pain that concerned Tony despite himself. Well, it wouldn’t hurt anything for him to go take a closer look. In fact, it looked like stopping junior was the quickest way to get the lights back on so really, it was priority number one. This had absolutely nothing to do with Tony’s desire to hit something. 

Tony still had his eye out for his god of mischief as he headed over to where Strange had isolated the sorcerer in training. Apparently, this guy had been a student at Kamar Taj. See delusions of grandeur plus magical powers and you get a serious thorn in their sides. He and Dr. Strange were still going at it with their sparky orange magic when Tony flew by. 

Iron Man kept his distance at first, didn’t want to steal Strange’s thunder if he wasn’t needed. Ok, that was completely a lie. He would happily steal Strange’s thunder, especially if it meant he could go home. However, he had learned to be leery of magic and he couldn’t afford to use his Muggle-inator with Strange standing so close so a little extra time for prudence was wise. 

But then Tony got bored after about thirty seconds and decided to plunge into the fray. It didn’t matter how much magic you threw around, a repulsor to the face is always a big distraction. Strange spared Tony a glare before whipping up some magicy orange bands to try to hold the dude down. 

The wizard wanna-be sighed and hung his head in defeat. Tony grinned and turned around to go find Loki and finish their earlier conversation. 

“Tony!” Loki yelled. But it wasn’t just in Tony’s com that he could hear his lover’s voice. He whipped around trying to peg the direction that very frantic voice was coming from. With his eyes back on the villain he could see that the guy had gotten his hands free and was waving them all crazy. Tony only had a moment to make eye contact with Dr. Strange and process the man’s wide-eyed look of fear before the world went black. 

When the world righted itself again Tony was pleased to see that he was back in his tower. But, as he looked around for his teammates, his stomach fell. He was completely alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you like me starting with the cliffhangers right off the back? No luring you in softly, I'm just starting off mean.


	2. Somewhere in Time

Loki let out a sigh of relief when he materialized in Tony’s tower. The spell that the failed sorcerer had been trying to cast was a complicated one, if he hadn’t gotten to Tony in time... Loki banished the thought as he tugged his mortal to him in a fierce hug. 

“Yeah, go team. Uh, thanks, Loki.” Dr. Strange said awkwardly into Loki’s shoulder. 

Loki shoved the sorcerer away, perhaps more forcefully than necessary. Dr. Strange went stumbling onto his ass. In Loki’s panic, he had almost forgotten that he had grabbed Strange as well. Loki wasn’t quite sure what he had been thinking at the time. He obviously hadn’t been thinking at all. So, if that wasn’t Tony, where was he? 

Loki’s heartrate increased significantly as he looked around for any sign of his love. Had he not held him well enough? Could he have been caught in that man’s spell? Strange seemed concerned as well and walked further into the dark living area. 

“What the hell is going on?” The beloved voice came from the elevator. This time Loki visually verified that it was his mortal walking in through the gloom before drawing him up in a fierce kiss. Loki was more than a little surprised to find himself as the one to be thrown off this time. Though he had far more dignity than to just fall on his bottom. 

“What the hell was that?” Tony wiped his lips dramatically with the back of his hand throwing Loki a disgusted look. 

“Tony, I know you’re annoyed with me, but...” Loki started. Tony couldn’t possibly be this angry about their little fight? 

“Annoyed? Last one on one we had you were throwing me out a window! I’m a bit more than annoyed!” Tony growled. Loki backed up until he was even with Dr. Strange. The anger on Tony’s face was, unfortunately, very familiar. It just wasn’t something he had seen for quite a while now. Loki looked his mortal up and down, his eyes drawn to the blue glow in his chest and suddenly things started to make sense. 

“Damn you, Strange! You sent us back in time!” Loki reeled on the sorcerer, narrowly keeping himself from choking the man. Of all the ridiculous things to occur now. 

“Yes, because it is automatically the foolish mortal’s fault.” Strange shot back. 

“You said it, not me.” Loki replied with a tight smile. 

Strange sighed. “What makes you think this is the past?” He questioned finally, looking around the dark room as if trying to find a calendar. 

“His arc reactor; he hasn’t taken it out.” Loki gestured to the item in question, round as it had been when he had first met the man. “So, it can’t be more than a year after my invasion. What the hell were you thinking activating the Time Stone like that? Tony could be anywhere! Any time.” 

“Uh, yeah. Hi. Standing right here. What the hell are you two talking about?” Tony interrupted. 

“My invasion, how long ago was that for you? Has your house been destroyed yet? Met The Mandarin?” Loki asked, referencing the events that occurred just before Tony removed the arc reactor. 

“That was years ago. How would you know about all that? You’re supposed to be dead!” Tony argued. Loki groaned. Years ago, but no change in the reactor... 

“We’re not in the past, we’re in an alternate universe. Who’s the fool now, hmmm?” Dr. Strange supplied helpfully. Loki shot him a glare. This was so much worse. The Time Stone may or may not have had a hand in this, more likely it had been that dimensional energy sourcing spell the sorcerer had been trying to perform distorted by the displacement magic of Loki’s teleportation. It wouldn’t necessarily be easy to return them to their proper place but now that he knew the cause, it wouldn’t take him too long to work out. Which was fortunate because he found alternate universes vexing to say the least. 

“So... speaking of dead guys, what is the former Sorcerer Supreme doing with the former God of Mischief?” Tony asked. Strange shuddered. Loki was used to hearing he was supposed to be dead, apparently the sorcerer was not so adjusted. 

“I’m dead? How?” Strange demanded of Tony. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Does it matter? We should just get out of here. This isn’t you anyways. This isn’t our reality.” 

“So, you’re just going to leave Tony?” Strange scoffed, gesturing to the man that Loki had been trying to ignore. “I knew you were an asshole, but I didn’t figure you for completely heartless as well.” 

Loki saw red. Felt a rage that he hadn’t had to fight in a very long time. The daggers were in his hand with barely a thought and he took a step forward. There was a flash of pure fear on the mortal’s face that had Loki pausing. It was immediately replaced with his usual cocky smirk, but that moment’s pause was enough for reason to take control and the daggers to be banished again. 

“That’s not my Tony. I want to figure out how to get the hell out of here and find him. Stop wasting our time.” Loki snarled instead, practically shaking with barely contained rage. It was slightly satisfying to see Strange take a deep breath that looked like relief. 

Tony was either too self-centered or too oblivious to really note what had passed between the two magic-wielders. It was all for the better, really. 

“Your Tony? What do you mean ‘Your Tony’? If you think I am letting you guys take off without answering some questions you obviously don’t know me at all.” 

Stark definitely had a point. Loki knew he would be difficult. Well fine then. He wanted the truth? Loki would give him the truth. The least he could get out of it was a little fun. 

“My Tony... as in the one from our dimension... as in the one who has been my lover for over a year now.” 

Stark laughed insultingly for a moment before he realized no one was laughing with him. He glared at Strange as if waiting for the sorcerer to laugh along with him at the joke. Strange shrugged and Tony scoffed, obviously not believing it. 

It hurt. Norns, did it hurt. Loki could feign indifference to Strange all he liked. He could logically tell himself that this wasn’t any Tony that mattered, but it still ached. He worked on locking that pain down inside so that he could focus on the present. Norns knew he had a lot of practice in that area. 

“It’s true, unfortunately. You have terrible taste in romantic interests. Though, I never knew you before Loki to know if that is just a ‘you’ thing or a ‘that particular you’ thing.” 

“No, that is pretty much a ‘me’ thing. Though this is impressively bad even for me.” Tony sighed. He looked Loki up and down appraisingly lip curled slightly with distaste. Loki suppressed the full body shudder at that look. “So why the hell did we let you back on Earth anyways? Or did you not die saving Thor?” 

Loki rolled his eyes. “I did die, briefly. Came back to Earth with Thor to relocate our people. Made sure you ‘heroes’ defeated Thanos. Story in a nutshell.” Loki turned to Strange. “Let’s go. I need to figure out what happened so we can get back.” 

I need to get away, Loki continued internally. He knew his voice had an edge of pleading. Seriously, had he not gone through this kind of thing enough? His life was a joke of cosmic proportions. 

“Wait a second. You defeated Thanos? You won? He didn’t wipe out half of all life in the universe with that damn glove?” Loki didn’t want to, but he looked back at his mortal’s doppelganger. Tony had gone pale, his eyes haunted. Damn, that was very bad. Despite himself, Loki felt a pang of pity for this Tony. He knew exactly how his lover would react to such a loss. It had to be tearing him apart. 

“Oh,” Strange responded eloquently. “He won, that’s...” 

“That’s very unfortunate for you. Strange?” Loki prodded. He didn’t want to beg but if the look on Tony’s face got any more pathetic, he was going to pull the man into his arms and that wouldn’t go well for anyone. 

“Loki, you bastard.” Strange admonished. “They lost everything. We won; can’t you even pretend to care? How much effort would it take to help?” 

“I can’t believe I need to keep repeating this... this isn’t our world. This isn’t our Tony. They lost, that is quite unfortunate, but it means nothing to us. ‘What, will the line stretch out to th' crack of doom?’” 

“Is that Shakespeare? Like, an actual Shakespeare quote?” Tony said, momentarily taken aback. 

“It’s a thing he does, ignore him.” Strange waved a hand dismissively. 

“You know what? Waste your time hopelessly trying to save this failed world. I’m going to try to figure out what is going on to get us back home.” 

Loki walked out to the balcony and shifted into a hawk. He was going scouting, problem-solving. He was absolutely not running away. He was not trying to escape this yet-again Tony who didn’t remember him, didn’t like him and felt so much like some kind of punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh that sweet, sweet angst....


	3. Animal House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, you don't get to find out what happened to Tony just yet...

Loki wasn’t overly thrilled to see Strange waiting for him out on the landing when he returned. He had burnt off a fair bit of energy terrifying some pigeons by chasing them around the city. Of course, that had slightly distracted him from actually working through the problem of how they were here and how they would get back. But Loki had mostly worked that out before he had shifted. 

All told, he was tired enough that he wasn’t going to be chased away by this pest. Loki shapeshifted in mid-flight, landing on the deck on two Asgardian-ish legs. His plan was to impress with his nifty shapeshifting powers, completely ignore the mortal’s existence and head inside to request accommodations for the night, but Strange couldn’t let that be. 

“Northern goshawk, juvenile by the looks of the feathers. Commonly found year-round in Scandanavia, surprise surprise. Interesting bird, creepy red eyes though.” 

Loki stared at Strange appraisingly. This was unexpected. Loki was wondering what the angle was, trying to determine if he was being mocked. 

“What?” Strange asked, affronted. “I can have layers. My father was big on bird-watching.” 

“Bird-watching? As in, just watching birds? How dull. Much more fun to become one.” 

“Yes, well that isn’t exactly a common skill is it? Frankly, I don’t even understand how you do it. Compacting your mass into that small of a body should mean that you’re too dense to fly.” 

“You’re right. Which is why I convert my mass to that of the bird.” Oh, how he loved lording his advanced knowledge over the man pompous enough to deem himself Sorcerer Supreme. 

“That doesn’t make sense, matter cannot be destroyed. Even my magic follows those principals.” 

“Your magic, and subsequent understanding, is but a drop in the bucket compared to mine.” Loki paused for Strange to roll his eyes. He continued on in a lecturing tone, far more condescending than he would ever use with Gunnar or Runa. “You get your magic from dimensional energy. Mine comes from within, an internal well that regenerates as long as I live.” 

“But then how would you use it to power all of your technology?” Strange asked, not getting it. 

“Oh, we know how to tap into dimension energy as well. We can use that for simple tasks of energy generation for our devices. My magic is far more flexible.” 

“Which tells me absolutely nothing about how you turn into a hawk.” 

“No, it explains why you cannot comprehend how I turn into a hawk. It’s a magic unlike anything you can wield.” Loki drove the point in just a little more. He was rather enjoying this. Strange sighed, obviously convinced he would never get the explanation. And well, that was probably the best way to ensure he got it. Sure, Loki could brag for a little longer. 

“My magic does still follow the rules of the universe. You mortals haven’t gotten all of them correct but you have stumbled onto some of the basic principles. There is no mass destroyed in the process, otherwise, how would I get the mass to turn back into myself? Instead I merely displace the additional mass that I don’t need and call it back when shifting back into myself.” 

“All right, but then how would you shift into something with more mass? Can you do that? I’ve only ever seen this hawk and a cat once.” 

“I can shift into larger shapes to a reasonable extent. Anything as large as say a dinosaur, that would take far too much magic to sustain for long periods. What I do is I borrow energy to convert to mass. The easiest way being similar to your own magic, taking it from other dimensions.” 

“That’s fascinating.” Strange said, and oddly he seemed sincere. Loki nodded, not really sure how else to react to this relatively benign conversation between the two of them. 

So, they stood in mostly comfortable silence, staring out at the city lights. 

“So why a juvenile?” Strange asked suddenly. 

“What?” 

“I would imagine that the closest you stay to your original form would require the least amount of magic. So why turn into a juvenile hawk or a young cat rather than larger, adult versions? Is it a cuteness factor thing?” 

“When I shapeshift, it matches my approximate age in whatever form I am taking. I can change that if I need to, but I rarely bother. It doesn’t usually make a difference.” 

Strange was surprised and looked almost horrified by whatever his current thinking was. Loki inwardly groaned. He hadn’t thought anything of answering, rather enjoying discussing the mechanics of one of his preferred tricks. Now he was remembering Tony’s response when he found out Loki’s proportionate age. Like that was anything relevant. 

“How young are you?” Strange finally choked out. 

“I’m over a thousand years old, Strange.” Loki said. Strange appeared to be waiting for Loki to elaborate. “Fine. Proportionally, I would say I’m maybe late twenties.” Loki lied. 

Strange looked dubious. He obviously knew a few things about birds, he could likely do the math, but Loki wasn’t going to give him anything else. 

“Toy says we can stay here for the night if we need to, even you.” Strange said finally, apropos of nothing. “Actually, his exact words were ’Crazy can stay the night too, not that I believe that liar. As if I would go anywhere near his skinny ass.’” 

Just when Loki was starting to believe that he may not need to kill the damn sorcerer, he would just go and open his mouth like this. Then Loki remembered that he was supposed to be unaffected, even amused, by Stark’s disregard. 

“The mortal doth protest too much, me’thinks.” Loki responded with a smirk. “For all his bluster, he is apparently still obsessed with my ass.” 

“Is that really how you feel? You can dismiss him just like that?” Strange asked, a slightly more tactful repetition of the earlier words that had driven Loki into a rage earlier. The tact helped, but not by much. 

“Ah, yes. Of course, you don’t believe me. The liar. I’m sure you still think that my relationship with Tony is all some elaborate rouse.” Loki snarled, so sick of all the judgements. 

“Will you lay off?” Strange asked, visibly frustrated. “Stop being such a damn martyr!” 

“Me? A martyr?” Loki was truly baffled by this assessment. “I’m sorry, have you met me?” What the Hel was the sorcerer trying to get at? 

“This ‘woe is me, nobody trusts me’ game you have going is getting old. Guess what? Everybody else is over it. We beat Thanos, saved the universe, with you. And while nobody but Tony most likely, really knows the history there, it’s plain to see that there were extenuating circumstances behind your invasion. And you’d have to be a blind idiot to think that you would ever do anything to intentionally jeopardize your relationship with Tony. So, we get it. You aren’t going to betray us. We can mostly trust you. We’ve all moved past it. Hell, even Clint hasn’t shot any arrows at you for months. Why can’t you just move on?” 

“Take that back!” Loki yelled, his brain fuzzy with sudden fury. 

“What? Take what back? I was being nice, dumbass.” 

“You can’t trust me. You can’t ever know that I won't betray you. I’m the god of lies, of chaos. I would never be anything so woefully predictable.” Of course, as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Loki knew they sounded ridiculous. They were also, perhaps, flat out lies. Damn it. Stark really had domesticated him. Norns, how much worse will it be when, no if, he moved in with Tony? Would he even be able to recognize himself? 

Strange laughed. He laughed and stared at Loki like he had him completely figured out. Like he knew just how much all that bluster was a lie. Loki wanted to stab him. The man would bleed, and Loki would have that famed last laugh. Instead, Loki just did what he was best at. He ran away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a love/hate relationship with Strange, he makes this difficult.


	4. Highlander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, you wanted to know what happened to Tony, now I deliver...

It had been three days since Loki and Dr. Strange just disappeared, leaving Tony alone in the tower. To say Tony was frantic was to vastly undersell it. He hadn’t left the tower since it happened. It was where Loki had left him, and he just couldn’t bear the thought of Loki coming back and him not being there. Bruce, the adorable teddy bear that he was, hadn’t left his side. Thor had been around for most of the time, except when it was necessary to return to New Asgard. Peter had come by every afternoon, had wanted to stay longer, but school was far more important than making Tony feel better. It should have been comforting; he should have felt the support, but really it just cemented for Tony that the whole thing was an emergency that everyone was taking very seriously. 

After Tony had materialized in his tower that day, he had scoured each floor to verify that there was no sign of Loki. Then he called Steve. Steve had almost sounded like he was going to cry when he heard Tony’s voice. It was unnerving to say the least. Whatever that wannabe sorcerer had done looked to them like a massive explosion. Fortunately, none of the teammates who had been left on the battlefield were injured as they had been far enough from the blast. 

Tony’s call interrupted the team going through the wreckage to try to find traces of their three allies. Tony had wanted nothing more than to be able to tell Steve he could call off the search, but in a broken voice that more than rivaled Steve’s he had to say that Loki and Strange were still MIA. 

They had found the rogue wizard; well, they had found remains, pieces more like. Fortunately, there were no Jotun pieces, no Sorcerer Supreme bits. Tony took a long belt of scotch at that thought. He desperately wanted to get the idea of pieces of Loki out of his head. The lack of remains was definitely a positive indicator. That and the fact that Tony was positive he had heard Loki, had felt the god grab him and then ended up elsewhere were all good signs that Loki was still alive, just lost. Unfortunately, those of them that were left knew jack-all about where to even start looking. 

“Wanda and Vision have nothing. They may as well have disappeared from existence. There’s no trace of them.” Steve said, clapping a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder where he was sitting beside Bruce on the couch. 

Team meetings. Tony definitely didn’t miss these. He certainly loved when there were all about how clueless everyone was about what the hell had happened. 

“Of course, our two main magic users would have to be the ones to disappear.” Bucky lamented, echoing Tony’s thoughts exactly. Bucky was sitting in the chair perpendicular to Tony and Bruce on the couch, rolling and adjusting his shoulder with the vibranium arm, a habit of his when he was uncomfortable. Steve settled on the arm of that particular chair. 

“Even worse that the guy who caused this whole mess got himself blown up in the process, so we have no idea what even happened.” Natasha said. She still had pink hair, Loki hadn’t been around to fix it or change it to another color. Tony was a little surprised she hadn’t gone to a hairstylist and tried to get it fixed. Then again, knowing Loki the magic was probably dye-proof. Tony knew he needed to stop drinking when he had to suppress a giggle at the thought of Natasha stuck with permanently pink hair. 

“Did Eir have any ideas, Thor?” Tony asked hopefully, even while knowing if she had Thor would have led with that. 

“While Eir is certainly powerful, and knowledgeable, this isn’t her area. She’s never heard of anything like this. She doesn’t know what that spell could have been.” Thor admitted. 

Tony tried not to give in to the panic that was quickly overtaking his calm. They were quickly running out of options. He said it once and he’d say it a thousand times, Tony hated magic. 

“What about Wong? Strange’s friend?” Bucky asked. 

“There’s this issue where we actually don’t know where the Hong Kong sanctum is or how to contact him. Rhodey’s doing some scouting there to see if he can track the guy down, but so far there’s been no joy.” Tony desperately wanted to go make himself another drink, but he needed to slow down if he was going to be any help to anyone like this. 

“Well, at least we can assume that Stephen and Loki are together. They’ll just need to put their heads together. If anyone could figure out how to get back, it’s the two of them.” Steve offered, apparently believing that was helpful. 

Tony and Clint both snorted. Natasha just gave a wry smile. Steve, of course, had no idea what was wrong with what he had said. 

“Steve, you can’t possibly have missed the seething hatred those two have for each other?” Bucky said. 

“I mean, I know they don’t really get along, but you know, it’s Loki. He acts that way with everyone, mostly.” Steve defended. 

“Oh, no, it’s so beyond that. Loki doesn’t like anyone to know he likes them, beyond Thor and Tony, of course.” Bucky explained. “So, he generally just acts like a dick.” 

“It’s true. He’d probably stab me for saying so, but he actually really likes all of you, Bucky and Bruce in particular.” Tony added, the alcohol loosening his tongue in a way that he actually hoped he’d regret later; because that would mean he had Loki back. Bruce blushed a bit and looked down embarrassed and a little sad; Bucky rarely made eye contact anyways but smiled wryly. 

“But Dr. Strange bested Loki magically. Loki was caught by surprise, but that’s not something he can easily forgive. What’s more, Strange presumed to dictate Loki’s movement when we first got to Earth. Loki does not forget any slights done to him and he rarely forgives.” Thor clarified. 

Of course, only Tony knew that Strange had, in other timelines, also helped Loki save the world, but apparently that didn’t weigh very heavily in Loki’s book. Tony personally, had nothing against the dude, other than solidarity with Loki. Sure, the guy was arrogant and snarky but who was he to judge someone for that? Tony Stark was many things, but he wasn’t a hypocrite. Much. Anymore. 

“Well surely they can put aside some petty...” Steve started. 

“Um, I’m sorry, have you met Loki? He is all about petty.” Clint interjected. 

Steve looked over at Tony as if expecting him to object to Clint’s words. Tony just shrugged, he wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t that Loki was incapable of putting the petty aside, it was just that he tended to enjoy reveling in it. Either way the result was the same. 

“Odds do not favor both of them coming back alive.” Natasha said. 

“My money’s on Loki.” Tony put in. Screw it, he was getting another drink if this was where the conversation was going. 

“Tony!” Steve admonished. 

“I too believe Loki will be the victor. He can be particularly ruthless when he has a score to settle.” Thor put in, rubbing at his elbow. Tony could only guess at what Loki had done in the past to settle some scores with Thor. If Thor wasn’t Asgardian, Tony was sure that his scars would be numerous. 

“I don’t know... Loki underestimates Strange,” Natasha put in. 

“We are not betting on two of our teammates killing one another.” The Captain was maintaining. It was kind of adorable. The liquor helped with that. 

“I just want to point out that Loki is absolutely not our teammate, by his own insistence.” Clint said. 

Yeah, and that absolutely was not part of the reason they were in this mess in the first place. If, no when, Loki got back Tony was going to finally have that one out. They were going to sit down and wade through all this petty bullshit. Loki was going to join the team and move in with Tony. Or Tony was just going to keep him in their bedroom and distract him until he didn’t even think of disappearing anywhere ever again, whichever worked. Until then, more scotch. 

Steve was trying to get the discussion back on track. Throwing out possibilities for people they could try to get in contact or consult. It wasn’t that Tony didn’t appreciate it, he just didn’t believe it would actually come to anything. He had to hope that Rhodey somehow found Wong. He was the only guy who knew this flavor of magic and could maybe determine just what had happened. 

“Hey,” Clint whispered, nudging Tony in the ribs. Tony held up the scotch bottle in offering but Clint shook his head. “One hundred bucks says Strange is the one who gets back alive.” 

“Oh, you can bet I’m taking that action, Merida.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May be a bit of a letdown, for that I am sorry. Tony has to stay at home and worry and not have his own alternate universe adventures (for now)


	5. Dead Poets Society

It was a restless night’s sleep in the guest room of his own, no not his, Tony’s, tower; Loki was grumpy. And that was part of the problem, wasn’t it? Loki was far away from his love and their last conversation had been an argument about Loki not wanting to officially move into the tower. It was ridiculous, really. He stayed there most nights anyways. But something held him back from making an actual commitment. And it was far more than the issue of their disparate lifespans that he had yet to solve. 

Strange’s words last night rang through his head. Norns, it was a disaster. He was predictable, dependable. His first impulse was to prove Strange wrong, prove everyone wrong, but really what would that accomplish? He would be right, but alone. No, he was far too content with this turn of his life to do anything to mess it up, just as Strange said. 

That wasn’t even the only problem, that was just last night’s revelation. He had concerns long before that. It had something to do with everything being Tony’s, from the very structure they stayed in, to the earth-style clothing he wore, down to the food they ate, everything came from Tony. Not that Loki couldn’t take care of himself, but that was distinctly unnecessary when dating a billionaire. Loki was constantly surrounded by the evidence that he was subject to Tony’s whims. 

New Asgard wasn’t especially Loki’s, certainly it belonged more to Thor as king. And honestly, he was proud of himself for being able to have that thought without feeling stabby. But Loki had helped build their new home from the ground up. Not just the structures but the new traditions, customs, methodologies. Loki’s room in the great hall was his not just because it contained his few possessions, but because it represented his work on the King’s council, his position as the King’s brother, prince. Outside of New Asgard he was at best Tony’s boyfriend and at worst, the barely tolerated former invader. 

Of course, Tony couldn’t understand that it had nothing to do with him, with their relationship. He took everything so personally. He projected so much of his self-worth onto what he could do or give, making up for what he felt was his defects by unbounded generosity. He couldn’t conceive of a discomfort with that giving nature to be anything other than a rejection of the man himself. 

So, they had argued; then they had argued some more. They had argued until the alert from Strange had come through. Tony asked to be teleported to the battlefield. Loki had refused as he wasn’t an Avenger, which had started up that worn-out argument. Just because Tony had felt the need to be a superhero to clear his conscience, didn’t mean that Loki needed to do the same. Loki had saved Asgard, had saved Earth, really, what more did they want from him? Sure, he’d help if Tony really needed him, or it was something interesting, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t a long list of heroes they could call upon for the usual situations. 

Finally, Loki got sick of stewing in the less than comfortable bed and got up. Mechanically, he went to the kitchen and started brewing himself a cup of coffee. He opened the refrigerator door and was momentarily flummoxed that his own flavored creamer wasn’t there. Ah yes, not his tower. Tony liked his coffee black, so why would he have the ridiculously sweet, caramel creamer stocked in his fridge? Loki sighed and pulled out milk and sugar, putting enough in his mug that if his Tony were here the man would be enthusiastically gagging his disgust. 

Loki sat down with his coffee, letting the caffeine and sugar work to alleviate the sleepy fog in his brain. He didn’t even realize he was humming until a voice interrupted his peace. 

“Paranoid, Black Sabbath, 1970.” Strange came waltzing into the room as if he owned the place, his own coffee in hand and sat in the chair perpendicular to Loki’s. 

“What?” 

“Album, artist, release date. It’s a thing I do.” Strange explained. Suddenly the word soup he had just spewed made sense. It reminded Loki of Tony though, which was rather annoying. 

Strange spoke again, drawing Loki out of that spiral. “So, do they?” 

“What?” Apparently, that was the only word Loki had access to until his coffee was done. 

“Fairies? Do they wear boots?” Strange asked. 

Loki laughed at that. An actual laugh with no artifice. Strange’s smile seemed pleased as well but even that couldn’t break Loki’s amusement. 

“The fae of Alfheim certainly do. They are just so functional and fashionable.” Loki said, grinning. Then he leaned in as if he was about to spill some deep secret. Strange leaned in as well, but there was a tentative look on his face as if he was sensing a trap. “But you would never catch one dancing with a dwarf.” 

Strange laughed at that and Loki realized that he had never actually heard the sorcerer laugh. Then again, they mostly only interacted when forced and the situations weren’t exactly pleasant. Strange’s thinking must have followed similar lines because his laughter faded, and his face turned serious. 

“So, Shakespeare and heavy metal, huh?” Strange asked, obviously trying the dispel the awkwardness with something approaching friendly conversation. 

“If music be the food of love, play on.” Loki quoted before continuing. “You say that as if they are mutually exclusive. Try humming Wagner sometime and tell me which you’d prefer.” He shrugged. “Blame Tony.” 

“Oh, I do.” The sorcerer replied. There were so many ways to take that statement, none of them particularly good. 

“So, if it isn’t that you don’t trust me, why do you hate me?” Loki blurted. Strange seemed startled by the sudden steering into the oncoming argument. 

“I don’t hate you.” At Loki’s disbelieving look, he scowled. “I don’t. But I don’t like you either.” 

“I repeat my question, why?” 

“Hmm... let me see. My spam email has increased tenfold since you showed up on Earth. I often have to order things five or six times from Amazon before I get the correct items. Or how about the fact that you are constantly at my throat at every interaction?” It was funny that he hadn’t mentioned the stray cat, food poisoning or that occasion with Tony’s whisky, but maybe he didn’t realize those happenings had been Loki. 

After a moment of amusement, Loki ruminated on what Strange had said. It was all so frustratingly logical. Loki opened his mouth to refute it, to say that he was only doing that because of Strange’s own behavior, but when he thought about it, he found that wasn’t the precise truth. Sure, the sorcerer had trapped him when he was believed to be a threat to Earth but other than that, he had done nothing except not take Loki’s abuse sitting down. Giving as good as he got, often far less than Loki gave actually. Damn. That was just...annoying. He wasn’t going to apologize though. The pranks were funny, for him at least. 

“It may have been said, that I am an expert at holding onto grudges.” Loki said as if this was just a random fact that he wanted to share. 

“You don’t say?” Strange asked with a bit of a smile. 

“I still haven’t forgiven Thor for drawing snakes all over my runes essay when we were little. Even though I technically got my revenge.” Loki took a sip of his coffee while Strange seemed to mull that over. 

“I suppose then it might be hard to conceive that others are more forgiving.” 

“Not really. My brother is a ridiculously forgiving person. But it never occurred to me that he may not be just the exception.” 

He knew that the Avengers had mostly learned to tolerate him, even trust him to an extent. Had they really, actually forgiven him? Was he ok with this new set of circumstances where he was trusted, possibly even liked? At least, by those other than Dr. Strange. 

“Well, it’s something to keep in mind. You get back what you put into the universe. I feel like that’s a pretty fundamental magical law.” 

It was, though Loki had always found it to be an annoyingly self-righteous one. 

“It does hurt.” Loki said, figuring that the embarrassing confession could only help him in working with the mortal to get back home. It certainly had nothing to do with this deep desire to get the words off his chest. Strange had a questioning look on his face, one that encouraged further speech. 

“Seeing that look on Stark’s face. The revulsion. The first time we met, I was trying to make him my enemy, so it was natural. The second time, I didn’t care about what the man thought as long as he helped keep Thanos from killing me, helped me save Thor. The third time hurt a bit, I definitely cared what he thought; I wanted him to like me. But I didn’t love him. Now I feel like he’s ripping my heart out.” 

Strange didn’t laugh, didn’t appear to enjoy Loki’s painful confession. He just nodded. “I couldn’t imagine that coming from someone you love.” 

“Never had your heart broken, Strange?” Loki asked, deflecting again. To his surprise, Strange flinched. Ooo, there was a story here. 

“I believe my ex would say that I would need to have a heart for that to be possible.” He said in bitter resignation. 

“Ah, so you did the breaking then.” Not too surprising. The man was good looking, had been wealthy and talented. Ok, Loki could grudgingly admit he was still relatively talented in his new field, if young. 

“Yep, no one to blame but myself.” Strange’s smile was brittle. Oh, there was something broken there all right. Loki wasn’t all that fond of empathy so... 

“Hmmm... this may be news to you, but I have been known to be rather selfish” Loki smirked when Strange rolled his eyes, coming out of his sad fog. “I never did anything that wasn’t in my own self-interest. At least, not that I let anyone else know about. Anyways, before Tony, I had never had a relationship. I never mattered enough to anyone to be able to break their heart.” 

What was he trying to accomplish with this? Make Strange feel better about breaking his heartache? 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? The Loki of the past would have laughed himself hoarse at the very thought, but now? 

“Let me guess, you were burned once? You hardened your heart? Vowed never to love again?” The sorcerer finished for him wryly. 

Loki snorted. “Nothing that dramatic, certainly. No one ever bothered to try anything beyond getting into my pants. It was until Tony that I even... Wait... Why the Hel am I telling you all this?” Loki asked suddenly, wondering what had possibly gotten into him. 

“Because I cornered you when you were all vulnerable and remembering how this Tony hates you.” 

Even hours earlier that comment would have earned Strange a stabbing, but now... “Or I’ve just gone crazy again. It was bound to happen eventually.” 

Actually, Loki was pretty sure it was all Tony’s fault. From the beginning, he had tried to lie to the man as little as possible. Sure, he had hidden quite a lot, but rarely outwardly lied. As they got closer and more of Loki’s truths had gotten out, it had just become second nature to not hide anything. There had been a freedom in just saying what he wanted without having to fabricate some lie or story. Now it was rubbing off on his conversations with other people, even enemies like Strange. He was definitely going to have to do something about this. 

“Just try not to take over Earth. If at all possible.” Strange suggested. 

Loki sighed as if Strange had asked him to do something tedious. “If I must.” 

Strange laughed; Loki smiled. It was a little weird. Loki decided it was much safer to go back to humming, trying to stump Strange with similar tunes and melodies. He was 0-7 and was just about to cheat and hum an Asgardian song just to at the very least see uncertainty on the sorcerer’s face when Stark finally decided to get up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you aren't familiar, the song Loki is humming is Fairies Wear Boots, because of course that is what Loki would sing.


	6. Heaven Can Wait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Such great responses to the last chapter! I feel like y'all are really going to enjoy where the rest of this fic is going.

“Hey! It’s Horny and Mr. Wizard.” The man with his name on their current residence called out. His nick-naming was rusty, likely due to the fact that he hadn’t had coffee yet. The mortal was actively working on fixing that. 

“Keep it up, Stark, and I will definitely start believing you aren’t attracted to me at all.” Loki called out. Stark looked up from his coffee, confusion written all over his face before his words seemed to solidify and he blushed. 

Loki chuckled as he drained his remaining coffee. When he made eye contact with Strange, the man was smiling but it was a little sad. Loki glared at him until the empathetic look disappeared. This was what he hated about confiding in people. He would take hatred over pity any day. 

“So, did you get everything you needed from the sorcerer, Stark? Ready to defeat Thanos? I wouldn’t want to subject you to my ‘skinny ass’ longer than necessary.” 

Stark blushed again at his words being used against him. Ok, this was maybe a little bit fun. Loki could take this bit of amusement from the disaster that had been the last day. Loki wondered how different this Stark’s past might be that the man seemed to be, at least slightly, less shameless than his. 

“Sure, apparently we just need to go to an impossible planet and have some dwarves make Thor an axe. I guess in the game of villain-beating axe trumps hammer.” 

“Thor still has Mjolnir? Interesting. Well since I don’t think you’ll need any help coaxing Thor away from New Asgard for an adventure, we’ll get out of your hair and back to our universe.” Loki said, rising from the couch. 

“New Asgard? What the hell is New Asgard? Thor’s on Asgard, original flavor.” 

“Asgard didn’t get destroyed?” Loki sputtered. This changed everything. Maybe they didn’t need to rush home so hastily after all. Tony was fine; the man could take care of himself after all. But this, this could be huge. 

“Oh ho, looks like not everything is better in your version, huh? Feeling a little less superior?” Stark mocked. 

“Whatever,” Loki dismissed Stark absentmindedly while his brain whirled. He didn’t think that taking some time would cause any real problems and this could be exactly what he needed. Just a little time in the royal library. “Strange, say goodbye to Stark. We’re taking a slight detour on the way home.” 

The sorcerer began an all too lengthy goodbye that Loki interrupted by yanking on the man’s cloak. It didn’t like that very much and swatted Loki’s hand away. Loki rolled his eyes and grabbed the man’s arm instead, tugging him to the balcony. 

“Umm... that’s not the exit.” When Loki didn’t acknowledge the comment, Stark continued. “Are you going to turn into a bird and carry him off? Because I’d pay to see that.” 

Loki acknowledged that comment with a roll of his eyes. With a firm grip on Strange, Loki teleported to the one place on Earth where he knew the path along Yggdrasil’s branches led to Asgard. 

When they appeared in Norway, Dr. Strange immediately pulled his arm out of Loki’s grip, rubbing the muscle that probably ached a bit. 

“Well that was rude, even for you. Tony didn’t deserve that.” Strange pouted. 

“That wasn’t Tony, that was a life model decoy.” Loki responded negligently as he concentrated on the energies in the spot to find the exact right point. 

“It’s so weird when you use Tony-speak like that.” Strange muttered, making Loki grin. 

“But really, what was the harm in staying a little longer? In helping this Tony out?” 

“Because that’s just what I need, to fall for another Tony.” Loki muttered. 

“What?” Strange asked. 

“Nothing. How about, we have no idea where the other Tony, the real Tony is? Let’s concentrate on hi, shall we?” Loki asked before scoffing and searching the beach for the right spot. 

The sorcerer finally acknowledged their new surroundings, surveying the open blankness of the snow-topped coast. “This looks familiar. Is this...?” 

“Norway? Specifically where New Asgard was built? Yes. Hush now.” 

“Why here?” The man was apparently incapable of shutting up. A generous Loki would acknowledge that both he and his favorite person were also guilty of this, but Loki wasn’t feeling generous at the moment. 

“Are you able to use your sling ring to get us to Asgard?” Loki asked finally. 

“No, it’s much trickier to travel through space than to break between dimensions. I’ve never tried anywhere that wasn’t on Earth.” Strange admitted. 

“Then we’ll have to get to Asgard another way. Even if the bifrost still stands and Heimdall is still there, I’m not sure I want to be announcing my presence just yet. So, we need an alternative route to Asgard. We chose this place for New Asgard because the energies felt the closest to our home. That’s because there is a direct path along Yggdrasil between this spot on Midgard and a garden just outside the palace on Asgard. I just need to find the entry point so quiet down and let me work!” 

Apparently, the explanation was mollifying enough because Strange quieted down. 

“Got it!” Loki announced when he nailed down the exact right spot. 

“Great. Why are we going to Asgard if you are so worried about Tony?” 

Loki blinked at Strange for a moment. He ran through their conversation in his head. Yes, he had completely missed the fact that he had failed to give any explanation for why they were going to Asgard. Time to stretch out the muscles of his silver tongue. 

“Do you know how we ended up in an alternate universe?” Loki asked. 

“No, since it was not my doing, it was yours I thought you might have some insight on that.” Strange responded smugly. 

“That remains to be seen.” Loki said with a sniff. Ok, of the two of them it was Loki’s fault, but as it was mostly the rogue sorcerer’s fault, he would not concede the point. Loki continued, “Do you know how we get back to our own universe?” 

“No, once again, that would be tough to decipher when I wasn’t its doing. You’ve been speaking this entire time as if you already knew how to get us back. You don’t?” 

Yes, actually he did. “No, I don’t. I just wanted to get away from that Tony.” Cue teary, pathetic eyes. Loki couldn’t quite do the puppy dog eyes that Thor could, but he held his own. 

“I’ve got knowledge you couldn’t even dream of, but one thousand years of learning still doesn’t hold a candle to Asgard’s library. With those resources I’m sure I could figure it out in no time.” That and other things. 

Loki’s breath caught as a potential resource occurred to him. Asgard intact, Thor still had Mjolnir, could Frigga still be alive? She would be the best possible source for information if she was. But that was almost too good to hope for. He didn’t want those rising feelings crushed. He tamped them down. 

“Ok, that’s logical. However, I feel like it’s my duty as the obvious voice of reason to point out that we have no idea what sort of welcome you’ll receive at Asgard. We don’t know all the circumstances of your life and death. 

“Whatever it is I can handle it. Thor would never let me suffer unduly.” 

“Well, this is your show. Go ahead.” Strange gestured to the pocket of air that was shimmering just in front of Loki. Loki grinned and stepped through, felt Strange come through just behind him. 

Loki’s first look at the Realm Eternal almost took his breath away. It hadn’t really been that long since Asgard had been lost, but memories just didn’t do it justice. They were standing in a flower bed and Loki quickly sidestepped to a path so that he would no longer be treading on the blood red irises. If his mother was here, she’d flay him alive for crushing anything in her gardens. 

The sorcerer did not follow Loki’s motion, seemingly struck dumb at the view in front of him. They did have a rather impressive vantage point of the castle. You really got a sense of scale from this angle and the gold was just shy of blinding in the afternoon light. Loki pulled on the man’s arm to get him out of the flowers and even that couldn’t seem to startle Strange out of his trance. 

“You grew up here.” Strange said, still sounding a bit in a haze. He hadn’t even glanced in Loki’s direction. He was just staring at the palace. 

“Yes...” Loki confirmed, though it definitely hadn’t been a question. 

“It’s so...gold. Suddenly, so many things about you make sense.” Strange continued to stare and completely missed Loki rolling his eyes. 

This charming little exchange was brought to an abrupt halt as they were very suddenly surrounded by six Einherjar, spears pointed menacingly at them. 

“That was quick,” Strange sighed, holding his hands up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well would you look at that? *casually mimes looking at watch that doesn't exist on her wrist* Is it mean cliffhanger time already?


	7. Alien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, the mean wait is over. Also, this is my favorite chapter so far so enjoy!

“I really wish this wasn’t exactly the welcome I had been expecting.” Loki said wryly holding up his hands in surrender as well. 

A man, shorter than any of the Einherjar, walked through as the guards made a gap. Well, would you look at that? Fandral was alive. That was mostly good news. Of all of Thor’s friends, Loki had always gotten along with Fandral best. The man was far more forgiving than the rest. After all, he was the only one who hadn’t threatened Loki with death after Thor had broken him out of jail. 

“What cause does a Jotun runt and a Midgardian sorcerer have for visiting Asgard?” Fandral snarled. Ok, forgiving may have been too strong of a word. 

“Jotun runt? Seriously? That’s just rude.” Loki was well enough practiced at hiding his hurt here in Asgard. 

“Uh, Loki.” Strange cut in, suddenly scanning Loki as if he had never seen him before. “You don’t exactly look like yourself right now.” 

Loki looked over to the sorcerer who was staring at him open mouthed. Well that was interesting. Loki glanced over at his hands. They were blue.

Jotun blue in fact. 

“Why the Hel isn’t my magic working?” Loki asked, going for a calmer tone and utterly failing. He tried to conjure a dagger and to his immense surprise it appeared in his hands. Loki tried to shift back into his normal form, but nothing happened. “It’s just my shifting. What’s going on?” 

“You didn’t do this on purpose then?” Strange asked annoyingly. 

“Absolutely not. Why would I want to look like a Frost Giant here in Asgard?” Loki spat exasperatedly, not wanting to get into the long story. There had been far too much delving into past topics for his taste already. Plus, Strange knew at least a bit of the story, even if he hadn’t seen this form yet. 

“Loki?” Fandral exclaimed looking him up and down. Well yes, he supposed no Asgardian excepting Heimdall had ever seen him in this form. And who knew if that series of circumstances had been different in this particular universe? The greeting they received made a bit more sense, actually. Then again, the guards weren’t exactly lowering their weapons yet. 

“Yes, it’s me. I’m guessing from that greeting you all believe I’m dead? At the very least I know I’m not masquerading as Odin considering Thor is king, so there’s that.” Both Fandral and Strange were shooting him equally confused looks. Norns, this was so much more fun when it wasn’t Tony. 

“I’m going to need to take you to the king.” Fandral announced and their arms were each seized by one of the guards. 

Fandral’s tone had gone back to cold from the initial surprise. Loki suddenly realized that Tony had never actually said that Thor was king, just that he was on Asgard. Shit. 

“The king is Thor, yes? It isn’t Odin or... oh Norns, it isn’t Hela, right? Because she was way worse than I could ever be.” 

Fandral shot him a speculative look but didn’t respond. Loki’s stomach roiled. 

“Ok, I’m not really sure what happened with me, but the least you could do is confirm my brother’s existence.” 

“If he is your brother,” Fandral shot back darkly. Now what was that supposed to mean? Loki could understand some set of circumstances that had caused him to be disowned. It was possible that he had done something even Thor couldn’t forgive, though Loki couldn’t imagine what. But the phrasing of that implied some speculation that Loki didn’t understand. 

“What’s going on?” Strange asked. 

“Like I know? I’m as lost as you are.” Loki hissed back. His mind continued to play through worse case scenarios 

“Red eyes, huh?” Strange said apropos of nothing, looking Loki up and down with a half smile, obviously referring to the similarity between these eyes and those of his hawk form. 

“Oh, don’t start. This is uncomfortable enough already.” 

Loki had made some serious strides in his familiarity with this Jotun body. Those days after he had been forced into this shape after losing his magic had gone a long way to making this form feel less foreign to him. He had even voluntarily taken this shape every so often for the very purpose of making sure that having to take it on didn’t send him into a complete panic. But that had been in the safety of Tony’s tower and only for Tony and once for Thor. Walking into the heart of Asgard with his tell-tale blue skin and red eyes made him feel naked, his skin prickling, even though very little of it actually showed in his usual armor. 

When they entered the throne room, Loki heaved a sigh of relief. It was Thor on the throne, two eyes, long hair but still Thor. Apparently, Fandral hadn’t bothered to send word ahead to warn of their appearance because Thor jumped from the golden seat in surprise. 

“Strange? What magic is this? How are you living?” Thor asked as he hurried down to meet his guests. 

“Oh, Strange gets greeted first. Isn’t that just typical?” Loki sniped. Friends before his brother as always. 

“What are you doing here with a Jotun?” Thor asked the sorcerer not even sparing Loki a glance. 

“Ah, that’s a long story, but you might want to take another look at the Frost Giant, Thor.” Strange said, looking over at Loki awkwardly. 

Thor shot Strange a confused look but turned to give Loki his full regard, finally. Loki stood there, a picture of impatience with his arms crossed and his foot tapping. Thor’s frown deepened, but he was still silent. Really, it was a trial to have a brother who was this slow. 

“Thor...” Loki growled. 

“Loki?” Thor’s eyes went wide in surprise. He immediately surged forward and Loki stiffened as large arms wrapped him in a hug. Old habits died hard, and really, it was just ask likely that Thor was going to hit him as hug him. Still he allowed it for a moment, even wrapping his own arms around Thor briefly before pulling away. 

“So, this is Loki? Are you sure? How? The spell should keep him from shifting!” Fandral exclaimed interrupting their little family reunion. 

“What spell?” Loki asked, before processing the rest of the statement. “Wait, you didn’t know I was a Frost Giant? You didn’t tell them?” This last question was directed to Thor. 

“I didn’t think it was relevant. I didn’t want it to impact your trial, then you died... wait..." Thor paused obviously realizing that he was not the one to be on the defensive at the moment. "You’re accusing me? You’re supposed to be dead! How could you, Loki? I...” 

“Mourned me, cried for me, yadda yadda; it really is a long story.” Loki waved off the emotional speech. He’d been through that one the first time around. No need to relive it. 

“Where have you been? You sound odd, very Midgardian...” 

“Actually, he sounds just like T...” Strange started before Loki put a hand over his mouth. The cloak slapped Loki’s hand away and Strange glared at him, but he didn’t finish his sentence, which was the important part. They really didn’t need to get into that right now. Thor watched the exchange, looking between the two of them, trying to puzzle out their relationship. 

“I feel like this story will require alcohol.” Thor noted. Loki had to admit that sometimes his brother had the best ideas. 

“Oh Norns... mead. I haven’t had decent mead in more than a year.” Loki practically groaned in longing. 

 

‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘ 

 

Hours later found Loki too many cups of mead in to count and feeling very good about things actually. 

“That is quite the tale. I wouldn’t believe it, but Loki you just seem so...” Thor drifted off, searching for the words in his liquor-induced haze. 

“If you say ‘different’, brother. I’ll stab you just to prove otherwise.” Loki threatened, holding up a conjured dagger. 

Thor held his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright, how about happy?” 

Loki looked away briefly to school his features, a little curl of pleasure in his stomach that he really didn’t need to give thought to. But that statement had earned a smile, so he gave Thor a small one and nodded, putting the dagger away. Thor grinned so wide that Loki was afraid he was going to break something. He deflected the moment by rolling his eyes. 

“So now that you know the whole story...” Loki started. 

“Well not the WHOLE story,” Strange cut in, because of course, Loki had failed to mention his relationship with Tony in his tale. Loki glared at the man, really this was not the time. 

“What is my brother hiding?” Thor asked resignedly. 

“Nothing,” Loki said, while at the same time Dr. Strange said, “His boyfriend.” 

Loki had rather forgotten that Fandral was still there until Thor and his shield brother made eye-contact, their eyebrows judgmentally high. Loki groaned. 

“Seriously, Strange? I thought we were moving past the antagonism.” 

Strange just shrugged, an unrepentant smile on his face. “I forgot that my favorite deli got destroyed in your invasion. You deserve everything you get.” 

Loki gave him a confused look, wondering why that phrase felt so familiar, but then he felt the two idiots’ stares on him. Loki turned his attention to Thor and Fandral, grinning at him dopily and the urge to stab became strong once again. 

“My little brother in an actual relationship?” Thor questioned gleefully. “Will wonders never cease? I hope that I have met this man in your universe, determined if he is worthy of you.” 

Loki facepalmed hoping it would hide his blush. This really was unbearable. 

“Oh, it’s even better. You’ve met him.” Strange drove the blade in deeper. 

“You must tell me,” Thor urged Strange, refilling the sorcerer’s glass of mead. 

“Guess,” Strange suggested, tipping his glass to Thor in a toast. 

Loki’s face was now hidden in both of his palms. “Please don’t.” He groaned. 

“Well, my guess would be one of the Avengers, as unlikely as that seems. I know few others on Earth. Hmm...” Thor made a show of pondering over it for a long time. “Captain Rogers?” 

Strange burst out laughing, Loki let out a pained moan. Why did he think that coming to Asgard was a good idea? His brother was insufferable. It didn’t matter what universe. 

“See? This? This is why I asked you to just...not. Now how am I going to face Rogers?” Loki turned his ire on Thor. “Of course, you would pick blonde, dim and muscled, the epitome of Asgardian desire. Projecting much?” 

“It’s not as if you haven’t gone for blondes in the past and rather publicly!” Thor shot back, glaring between him and Fandral. They briefly made eye contact with each other before looking away. Really, wasn’t Thor over that yet? 

While the two of them getting together had been a bad idea from the start considering their close relationship with Thor. Loki suspected that they may have made the situation slightly worse by doing so on the high table of the banquet hall. In their defense, they had brought out a few casks of Alfheim's best wine due to their impressive defeat of that blue dragon and everyone else had long since gone to bed. Or well, that’s what they had thought. Enter Thor, looking for them to drag them to their respective chambers and finding them mid-rut, Loki bent over the table with Fandral taking him from behind. It was just fortunate that they had been facing the door, really Thor hadn’t seen much. 

Of course, he may have taken it a bit better if they had actually stopped their activities rather than Loki just goading Fandral to go harder so they could finish. Nope, Loki couldn’t feel repentant. The indignant look on Thor’s face had been entirely worth any awkwardness with Fandral later. 

“No offense to Fandral, but there wasn’t exactly a plethora of choice in Asgard.” Fandral snorted and there was a look of unease on Strange’s face. This was one of those situations that Loki was actually relieved that he had a policy of telling Tony the truth. His love already knew about that little fling so there was no information for Strange to hold against him. 

“Well he said boyfriend, so it isn’t Natasha.” Thor mused, getting back on topic. Then Loki could practically see the lightbulb go on over Thor’s head just like in the cartoons. “It’s Stark, isn’t it? I knew it!” 

“Yes, it’s Stark. You were right, we’re very alike. So alike that we have been in a relationship for more than a year now. It’s quite adorable. Now can we move on to more important matters or have you forgotten the fact that I am uncontrollably blue?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody will ever be able to convince me that Loki and Fandral didn't get it on at some point. Fandral's little look and comment "I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki" in Dark World is proof positive in my eyes. Also, no threatening, so I like him for that alone.


	8. Adventures in Babysitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While the chapter is from Loki's perspective as per usual. The title is very much Thor's perspective on this entire exchange. Enjoy!

“There was a spell we had some sorcerers from Vanaheim cast over all of Asgard. No one can shift their shape anywhere on its grounds.” Thor explained. 

“Oh Norns, what did I do?” Loki asked resignedly. This had to have been big, even for him. 

“No, brother. This had nothing to do with you. I truly thought you were dead.” Thor looked down guiltily. When he looked up again, Loki could see a hope in his eyes, one his brother barely dared to admit, and he knew what Thor was going to ask next. “You...I mean...he isn’t right? Can you...do you know?” 

Loki sighed. “I’m sorry, Thor. I know he had the ability to survive. I’m guessing it was on Svartalfheim? The Cursed?” Thor nodded. Loki dared to ask the next question on his mind. “Mother?” 

Thor looked down again, and that was answer enough. Loki tamped back down that hope he had barely let himself feel and cleared his throat. “Anyways, when I recovered, I immediately returned to Asgard and replaced Odin as king. Your Loki, well, he could be dead, or he could be anywhere.” 

“Yes, I understand.” Thor said sadly. Then, “wait...replaced Father? Loki!” 

“It was only for a few years and I did a really good job! Odin was fine; it wasn’t like I killed him.” Loki objected defensively. If anything, the fact that Odin was gone in this universe as well was proof enough that it wasn’t Loki’s doing. Rather re-assuring actually. 

“He just put him in an old folk’s home.” Strange added helpfully. “It got demolished.” 

“I’m seriously regretting every nice thing I’ve ever done for you!” Loki snarled at Strange. 

“So, you have no regrets then?” Strange asked cheekily. 

“I did kiss you, didn’t I?” 

“We both know that wasn’t nice.” 

“I am an excellent kisser!” 

“Not what I meant.” 

“Children!” Thor interjected. Loki looked back over to where his brother was looking chiding and Fandral was laughing his ass off. 

This conversation had definitely flown afield from what Loki had intended. Oh well, changing the subject. “Yes, so if the spell wasn’t for me, why is it there?” 

“Skrulls,” Fandral replied as if the word tasted bad in his mouth. Loki’s stomach fell. 

“They’ve never come into the Nine Realms before, never dared test Asgard.” Loki protested. 

Thor grimaced. “After Thanos... well, the Skrulls already had us with the numbers. That became even more clear when everyone’s armies were halved, but they still had troops to spare.” 

“Who or what are Skrulls?” Strange asked. Ah yes, ignorant Midgardian’s. 

“The Skrull Empire is a race of aliens from outside the Nine Realms. They are formidable in numbers alone, but their biggest strength is the ability to shapeshift. They are patient, often sending scouts to infiltrate their target planets for long periods of time, slowly increasing and worming their way into positions of power until success is practically guaranteed. Fortunately, they have no knowledge of magic and we’ve been able to hold them at bay for now.” Fandral supplied. 

“Combatting invasion with defensive magic rather than brute force, huh?” Loki sneered. Of course, they would be fine with this tactic when it wasn’t him suggesting it, him performing it. 

“I just thought to myself, what would Loki do?” Thor replied sunnily, grinning at him. Loki was uncharacteristically speechless. That was definitely not what he had expected. Loki looked away from his brother momentarily and unfortunately locked eyes with the sorcerer. Strange looked mildly confused, as he probably had no idea about the perception of magic on Asgard. They were definitely not getting into this right now. It was time for a subject change again. 

Before Loki could get any words out, Valkyrie and Hogun entered the room. Both shot Loki leery looks, but they weren’t surprised, so Loki expected that they had been warned. 

“Loki,” Hogun greeted stoically, which was, of course, no clue as to his true feelings as he greeted everyone stoically. 

“Hogun!” Loki greeted enthusiastically, just to annoy the man. “Now the party can truly begin. Well, not quite. We still need my two biggest fans. Where are Sif and Volstagg?” 

The downcast looks of the remaining warriors told Loki everything he needed to know. Thanos, was his guess. In that dark space inside, the one that never really vanished, Loki wanted to be pleased. But he wasn’t, and not just for the hurt and loss he could see on Thor, Fandral, and Hogun’s faces. They had been his friends too, once. As begrudging and distant as they had been. He had mourned them, a bit, in his own way. To hear how Asgard has survived that fate only to have them be snapped out of existence by Thanos was disappointing to say the least. 

The loss hung in the air. Loki didn’t apologize and no one took it up to explain. Still, the two warriors walked up to the table, sat down and poured themselves drinks as if this was any other day. Valkyrie sat down next to Thor who pulled her in for a kiss. 

Loki knew he was staring; knew he was blinking far too much, but he couldn’t seem to stop it. When Thor pulled away, he stared at Loki amusedly for a few minutes. 

“You and Valkyrie?” Loki finally sputtered. 

“Valkyrie? You mean Hilde?” Thor asked, looking questioningly at her. 

“I may be the Captain of the Valkyrie, but The Valkyrie is a bit much, even for me.” She said, taking a belt of mead. 

“Wait, as in, there’s more Valkyrie here?” Loki couldn’t believe it. That was a huge difference, so much so that he wondered how so many other things could have gone so similarly. Maybe certain things were just fate, decreed by the Norns no matter what they did. He wished that was a comforting thought. 

“Why do I feel that I will not like this tale?” Thor asked. 

“You wouldn’t. Frankly, I’d rather not tell it. Suffice to say the differences don’t quite matter here.” He would be looking up a few things while they were in the library though. He was far too curious by nature to not look into such a large deviance. 

“But isn’t that why we’re here? To explain how we defeated Thanos?” Strange asked. 

Loki opened his mouth to correct the mortal that no, they were here to figure out how to get home, among other things that the sorcerer was not aware of, but the hope that lit up in the four Asgardian’s eyes stilled his tongue. Damn. He could deny Tony, looking at him with disgust. But how could he deny his brother, looking at him with such expectation on his dear face? 

 

‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘ 

 

By the time Loki and Strange had ended their tale, Loki was wiped. His eyes stung and his head ached. He had long since switched from mead to water to temper this, but it barely seemed to help. 

“I’m sorry, Loki. I didn’t think about how hot it must be in here for you.” Thor said finally. 

Loki looked up in confusion. He had zoned out, his fingers rubbing his temples and he was panting of all things. He realized that yes, that was this odd itchy feeling. He hardly recognized it because he wasn’t sweating, but he supposed what need had Frost Giants with sweat glands? It was summer in Asgard and they were out in the balmy afternoon sun. Now that it had been brought to his attention, the heat was oppressive. 

“Yes, I didn’t even realize. The last time I spent any significant amount of time in this skin was in Tony’s tower and he keeps it just shy of freezing there.” Loki admitted. 

At that, the doors opened and once again a familiar face strode through. Unlike the last time, Loki got to his feet and immediately rushed over to greet the visitor. He bowed over her hand and greeted her, before pulling the woman into a brief hug. 

The room went silent; it was as if not a single person dared to breathe. Loki looked up at Eir’s face to see it frozen in surprise. Yes, well, he supposed they hadn’t had a chance to get close in this timeline. This was very awkward for all involved. He looked away from her to gauge the others’ reactions. Yes, they were all in some state of mute shock. Well, all but Dr. Strange who was also gauging the other’s reactions, but with more confusion than Loki had. 

“What just happened?” He asked, but everyone ignored him, waiting for Loki to respond. 

“My apologies, Lady Eir. That was presumptive of me when I don’t know you well. Well, not this you.” Loki spluttered 

Eir smiled and put a hand on Loki’s face, silencing him kindly. “Not at all, Loki. I was just surprised. I was informed of your unusual circumstances and Thor asked me to come to see if I could help you with the heat.” 

Loki rolled his eyes at Thor who grinned unashamedly. “I could have done it myself if I had realized that’s what the problem was.” 

“Really?” Eir asked. 

Loki smiled and cast a healing spell to clear him of the current damage and wove a heat protectant about his skin. Eir’s eyebrows went up significantly. 

“And where did you learn that?” She asked, but the slight curve of her lips told Loki that she knew the answer. 

“From you, of course. I was just a few centuries late.” 

“Clever boy. The lesson was well learned eventually, I see. Your mother would be incredibly proud.” And there went Loki with the blushing again. The room around them was still artificially silent and it was starting to put Loki’s back up. 

“So, if we’re all done here, you can start getting ready to defeat Thanos and Strange and I will adjourn to the library to see if we can’t ourselves back to our proper universe. Sound good to everyone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss Tony so much! Why would I be so ridiculous as to come up with a fic that has them apart almost the entire time!?! Ugh!


	9. Raiders of the Lost Ark

“So, what the hell was that all about?” Strange asked as Loki led him to the library. 

“I have no idea what you are referring to.” Loki responded, just to be difficult. 

“I thought Thor’s eyes were going to bug out of his head when you went up to hug that woman. Who was she?” 

“Lady Eir is the head healer here in Asgard and one of our mother’s closest friends.” 

“So why would it be so odd that you hugged her?” Strange asked as Loki opened the giant golden doors to the library and gestured for the sorcerer to precede him inside. 

“I don’t, well didn’t, do casual affection.” Loki explained, but Strange was no longer listening to him. Loki couldn’t help the pleased grin as he looked up at the mountains of books contained within the library. It really was a stunning sight. Several stories of sturdy wooden bookcases linked by rows upon rows of ladders, not that anyone really needed them. The roof was a glass dome with a magical treatment so the light wouldn’t damage even the oldest of tomes. There were rows of tables and chairs running through the center of the hall, but around and tucked in between the shelves were dozens of nooks with overstuffed chairs and smaller tables. Loki was immediately relaxed and at home, surrounded by dark wood, leather bindings and the pleasantly musty smell of old paper. 

“I could stay here and read for the rest of my life and I’d barely make a dent.” Strange breathed. 

“I could stay here and read for the rest of MY life and I still wouldn’t even get through half.” Loki responded pleasantly. “This place is wonderful, isn’t it? My favorite in all of Asgard.” 

Loki led Strange over to one of his favorite corners. It had decent light, but more importantly, the comfiest chairs. On the way they passed by an old tapestry that portrayed Loki and Thor performing some feat of bravery or another, Loki couldn’t really remember the specifics. Strange pointed to It, eyebrows high. Loki rolled his eyes and gestured for Strange to sit. 

“I swear, I keep forgetting you’re actually a prince and then I see things like that.” Strange whispered. 

“I suppose you never have been to New Asgard, have you?” Loki mused in a normal tone of voice. Oddly, the mortal winced. Loki shot him a confused look. 

“Don’t you have rules about not talking in a library?” Strange asked, once again in a whisper. 

“No,” Loki said, understanding now. “But we do have spells that prevent others from hearing any sounds made outside their sphere to prevent distraction.” 

“Oh,” The sorcerer said at a normal volume, looking chagrined. “So, where’s the Asgardian version of a card catalog?” 

“There isn’t one.” Loki said grinning widely. The mortal was going to love this. “The shelves are all spelled. You just think on the subject you are looking on information about.” 

Suddenly, six books appeared on the table in front of Loki stacked neatly in order of relevance. Strange whistled, grinned and five books appeared in front of him. 

“I would have killed for something like this when I was writing my dissertation.” Strange started sifting through the titles of the books in front of him, all related to alternate universes and dimensional theory. Loki subtly tilted his stack so the mortal couldn’t see any of the titles. 

“Shall we then?” 

‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘~’~’~’~‘ 

“So, what’s the deal with you and Bucky?” Strange asked after several hours of study. 

Loki didn’t even look up from his book. “We’re secret lovers.” 

“Oh, ok.” Strange responded. Loki did look up at that unexpected reaction. The sorcerer went back to reading for a moment before his face froze in confusion, his brain apparently processing that response. “Wait, what?” 

Loki chuckled. “What brought him up? What could you possibly be reading that would make you think to ask that?” 

Strange waved the book in front of Loki so he could read the title, Dimensional Energy Fluctuations. Loki raised an eyebrow in question. “Oh, it has nothing to do with the book, but I’m going cross-eyed from the ridiculous verbosity. Can none of you speak plainly?” 

“Do our words not flow trippingly on the tongue for your pleasure?” Loki asked with a wry smile. Strange rolled his eyes. “Truly, you’re looking for a rest and you wish to spend it asking about Barnes and I?” 

“I’m working myself up to all the weirdness with how magic is viewed here. Figured I’d lull you into an easy conversation in your favorite place before hitting you with the hard questions.” 

“But now you’ve given yourself away.” 

Strange shrugged. “I am still curious though. You’re the only one he’ll really talk to, hell make eye-contact with outside of Steve. Yet you’re a raging asshole with practically everyone. Willing to spill?” 

“What kind of raging asshole would I be if I spilled my secrets so readily?” 

“Oh now, come on. Some of my favorite people are asses.” Strange cajoled. 

“Add yourself in there and you have a deal.” Loki bargained. 

“Me? I’m not an asshole.” Strange tried to look offended but his face was breaking into a smile. “I’m an arrogant bastard. There’s a difference.” 

Loki did laugh at that. “Ok, for that you get your wish.” 

He thought for a moment about how much he was willing to reveal. Strange was acting somewhat bearable lately. He had said he trusted Loki more or less and wanted to bring them to something less adversarial. And it wasn’t as if Barnes’ background was a secret. 

“I can relate far better to Barnes’s past than anyone else currently on Earth.” 

“To be honest, all I know about Barnes was that he was tortured and brainwashed. Sent to kill people by Hydra.” 

Loki nodded. “We also have the dubious task of keeping our blonde, do-gooder adopted brothers from getting themselves killed” He continued, accepting Strange’s words without hanging upon them, wondering how Strange would move forward with that information. 

The next several moments were tense while Loki and Strange stared at one another. Strange was obviously contemplating if he wanted to delve into Loki’s answer and Loki was waiting for the response. Finally, the sorcerer decided to speak. 

“So, what’s the deal with magic here?” Strange asked. 

Loki chuckled. “I’m honestly not certain where to begin. There’s a lot of history and social context to that question.” 

“Sure. Magic is all around us here. You guys use it in everything, your technology, your library, everywhere.” Strange paused for confirmation. Loki nodded for him to go on. “But Thor had to get sorcerers from Vanaheim to cast that spell. There were no sorcerer’s in Asgard other than you? And the way you reacted to it made me think that it wasn’t something he would normally do. That he’d look down upon it, but that doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Think of magic like electricity. You don’t need to know how to generate it to be able to use devices that require it, yes?” Strange nodded. “That is how magic is used here on Asgard, primarily. Through knowledge and study won years ago, relied upon, but not thought much of. While your technology is ever adapting and improving, ours was established long ago and has continued with that old wisdom of if it’s not broken, there’s no need to repair. I believe it’s a factor of our long lives; we’re unchanging, eternal yet stunted. So, if everything is operating perfectly, what need is there for someone who wields magic? What could we possibly need them for?” 

Strange nodded, looking thoughtful. But he didn’t say anything, expecting Loki to continue. 

“Unlike learning to be an electrical engineer, some people are born with the spark of magic in them. Some of the more powerful will do magic whether they wish to or not, often manifesting in specific forms related to their personality, like Thor’s lightning. Women who are born this way are all trained to be healers. Men are taught enough to control the power they have and are expected to leave it at that.” 

“Why are women and men treated differently with magic? Isn’t it all the same when you’re born?” 

“Why are some careers on Midgard traditionally gender segregated? I wouldn’t say that women are treated as less precisely, but they are treated as other. I believe the very controversial saying would be separate but equal?” 

“Which is, of course, where you come in?” Strange said, smiling in anticipation. 

“Ah, yes. I believe it’s a function of my nature, the God of Mischief, wreaking chaos. I was never fated to play by the rules. When you add to that a mother who was from Vanaheim and quite the accomplished sorceress herself, along with my dubious roots likely influencing a certain amount of gender fluidity, of course I wanted nothing but to learn magic. I learned to fight as well certainly. Rarely lost and never if I was allowed to use my magic, except sometimes against Thor. But I was always denigrated, always seen as other.” 

“That’s ridiculous. Obviously, you can’t expect to succeed as a society if you just try to keep everything the same. There’s always going to be new problems, new threats. Like the Skrull.” Strange argued. 

“I agree. It’s a point I brought up to my father time and time again, to no avail. Thor, both in this universe and our own, seems to be learning that lesson. This one turning to a fairly ingenious spell is a good sign.” Loki examined the markings on his blue hand for a moment. “And in our universe, I now have five students, boys and girls, learning all forms of sorcery, not just healing. It’s a step in the right direction.” 

Strange looked uneasy for a moment and Loki wondered what he had said to turn the man so introspective. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again with a slight shake of the head. Loki raised an eyebrow; he wasn’t sure he had ever seen the mortal so unsure about what was going to come out of his mouth. Finally, “Do you think I could learn your magic?” 

Growing fondness aside, Loki couldn’t help the immensely satisfied smile that question brought to his face. Strange shook his head exasperatedly, but he still waited for Loki’s answer. 

“Perhaps. I’ve yet to meet a mortal who has been born with the spark. Scarlett Witch would be the closest approximate in that she has internal sources of magic, even if they were sparked by an outside force rather than inborn. You do have some, small reasonable grasp on your magic that I do believe we could adapt my own to suit your purposes. Perhaps even find a way to create stores of magic for you to tap into as I do my own. I might be convinced to put some effort into the matter.” Loki grinned at the mental image of the Sorcerer Supreme sitting on the floor with Loki’s newest students. I was rather delicious. 

“Uh huh. And what would I have to do for you to convince you?” Strange asked, copping on to Loki’s game immediately. 

Honestly, Loki couldn’t think of a thing at the moment, the satisfaction was its own reward, but he couldn’t let his aspiring pupil off that easily. He was sure there would be something down the line where it would be useful to have the so-called Sorcerer Supreme in his debt. “I suppose I would agree to some favor, to be granted as needed at a time in the future.” 

“I can’t even fully describe the amount of dread that thought causes. But I want to learn.” Strange said the last bit with certainty. 

“That is what I like about you, Strange. I’ve always respected a desire to learn.” 

“Is it just me or is this crossing a bit close into friendly?” Strange asked suddenly. 

“Hmmm, I agree. Be about your task, mortal. I’m ready to be rid of your company.” Loki shooed the sorcerer to return to the book he had been avoiding. 

Neither man mentioned if they noticed the small smile on the others’ face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting back to Tony soon I promise!


	10. Against All Odds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see what Loki was so mysteriously looking into shall we?

Loki started with a bit of a history lesson. As it turned out, in this universe, Odin copped wise to Hela’s disturbing tendencies far earlier. Loki was going to equate that with the fact that he had actually married Frigga far sooner, but the book didn’t explicitly say that, of course. Frigga had helped the Valkyries against her step-daughter and Hela had been truly defeated. Though the Valkyries had sustained some losses, it wasn’t the total devastation that had occurred in his universe. Therefore, no loss of Mjolnir, no destruction of Asgard, no hidden sister. It was all very interesting. 

From there, Loki turned to the more prurient matter on his mind. He was well into a particularly intriguing biochemical formula in a book about relics contained in the vaults when Strange cleared his throat pointedly. Loki looked up, shooting him an impatient, questioning look. 

“I can’t help but wonder how you hope to find information to get us home using books about Midgardian physiology and healing spells.” Strange said. 

Loki looked to the table where in his single-mindedness he had forgotten to either send the books back or hide the titles. 

“Well... you see... I had to make sure that with whatever solution I came up with, you would actually survive the process. I’m only doing my due diligence for your frail, mortal body. But if you think that’s an unnecessary precaution, I’m happy to experiment.” Loki blurted out, thinking quickly. 

By his face, Loki could already tell that Strange wasn’t buying it. 

“Yeah, I’m not buying it. Try again.” 

“I believe it was something to do with your Midgardian physiology that conflicted with my teleportation. Perhaps in the way that you do not retain the magic you...you aren’t buying this either, are you?” Strange shook his head. “Yes, I thought that one was pretty weak.” 

“You already know how to get back don’t you?” The mortal strangely did not seem angry, merely resigned. 

“Why do you think that?” 

“Because you were saying that from minute one. It was only until you found out that Asgard wasn’t destroyed that you changed your tune. The idea that you lied just to get away from Tony fit, but not completely.” 

Loki sighed. If Strange could have just waited just a bit longer so Loki could finish his research, he would have been fine. Seriously, it would have been no more than an additional hour if this serum worked out. But no, he was actually going to have to tell the truth. Damn it. 

“Yes, I know how to get home.” 

“Fuck, Loki. Why the hell have you been wasting my time?” There was the anger that Loki had been expecting. 

“When I found out Asgard hadn’t been destroyed, I knew I had a chance. I had to take it.” Loki said. It was the truth, even if it was specifically vague. 

Strange looked at the books in front of Loki, making assumptions from their titles. “Is Tony sick?” 

“He’s not sick per-say. But he is dying.” Loki answered. Recognition dawned on the sorcerer’s face. 

“The last thing the world needs is for Tony Stark to live for millennia.” Strange protested. 

Loki pulled an offended face. “I completely disagree.” 

Then Loki smirked. “The last thing the world needs is for ME to live for millennia. Tony’s the only one who has had any luck with keeping me out of trouble.” 

Strange appeared to give this idea a lot of thought before finally sighing and asking, “How can I help?” 

“Just keep yourself entertained for a while. I think I might have found just the thing.” 

A bit more research on this Lifeline Serum and a quick trip to the vault to get the actual formula from the Tablet of Life and Time itself got Loki all the information he needed. He dropped Strange off with his brother while he went and cooked up a little magic with Eir. 

She was understandably reluctant; the formula was immensely powerful and in the wrong hands could do serious damage. It was still rather novel to Loki that his weren’t considered to be the wrong hands in this scenario. So, they limited the quantity and managed to put some parameters on the power as well. The only permanent effects were the healing and long life anyways, and that was what Loki was truly after. 

Just like that Loki had the cure. If Tony consumed this serum, he would live as long as Loki. Barring any unnecessary danger to cut his life unnaturally short, which was easier said than done, Loki wouldn’t have to live without him. And just like that Loki couldn’t wait to get back. To present his mortal with this gift. To be with him. 

“Ready to get back home, Strange? I’m sure Wong is missing you terribly.” 

Strange snorted. “I’m sure Wong has barely even noticed I’m gone except that his library is remarkable quiet. And with less disappearing books.” 

“A man after my own heart.” Loki responded automatically before he could think better of it. When he realized what he had said, he made eye contact with Strange who was looking back at him with an expression of discomfited wariness. 

“I never said that.” Loki said quickly. 

“Said what?” Strange asked, an overblown look of confused innocence on his face. 

Damn it again. Loki was actually starting to like Strange. Obviously, they had been spending far too much time together. Loki just needed to get back to the people that he actually liked, and this would go away. 

Then again, he had told Strange that he would teach him. Loki groaned internally. He was actually going to become friends with the arrogant sorcerer, wasn’t he? Loki was hard-pressed to think of a worse possible outcome for this little journey. Loki wondered how much torture disguised as teaching it would take before he was comfortable asking Strange to teach him some of his tricks as well. Strange did have a few good ones. Then Loki remembered what was currently residing in his pocket universe and he smiled. It wasn’t all bad. 

“Are we actually going to say proper goodbyes this time?” Strange asked. 

Loki sighed. “If we must.” 

Thor was still in his receiving room with Fandral, Hogun and Valkyrie when Strange and Loki entered. Eir joined them shortly thereafter at Loki’s request. Loki found it easier to start with Eir while Strange talked to his brother. 

“Thank you again, my lady.” Loki said with another kiss to her hand. “I will forever be indebted to you for your assistance. I still have much to learn in healing and I don’t believe I could have accomplished it myself without your help. Certainly not so quickly.” 

“Clever boy,” Eir said smiling. She put a hand up to cup his cheek. “I just wish I could keep you.” 

“Who knows? There may be a very lost Loki out there who could desperately use your friendship.” Loki gave her a hug and hoped desperately that if his counterpart in this particular universe was living, he didn’t miss out on this. 

The farewells with Fandral, Hogun and Valkyrie were far less emotional and therefore far easier. No hugging. 

Finally, it was time for Thor. The big oaf already had wet eyes before he even walked up to Loki. The prince sighed and let himself be pulled into a far too tight hug by the king. 

“I can’t believe you are allowing me to do this. When was the last time you think?” Thor said into his neck. 

“For you? Easily five centuries. For me? A few months ago, unfortunately.” 

Thor pulled back a bit without fully letting him go to look at him curiously. 

“We had just defeated Thanos and you were told I had been captured by him again. It seemed appropriate at the time.” 

“I wish...” Thor started, but Loki interrupted. 

“I know,” Loki started. “I don’t want you to hope in vain, but it is possible. I’m pretty tricky that way. You should look for him. He’s likely fled to the farthest corner of the galaxy, still hiding from Thanos, but if you manage to defeat that bastard, you may just be able to find him.” 

“Then that is exactly what I will do. Thank you, brother.” Thor finally let him go with some manly pats on the back that had Loki fighting to stay upright. Dolt. 

“Yes, yes, brother. Don’t get used to all his manhandling if you do find him. Kings can still bleed, you know.” Loki grumbled. 

Thor grinned at him and Loki couldn’t maintain his frown at the sunniness of that sight. But he did roll his eyes. He couldn’t go too soft on his brother. 

“All right, Strange. Time to blow this popsicle stand.” Loki nodded to the sorcerer to come close enough that he could put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Popsicle stand?” Fandral asked, looking to Thor for answers. Predictably, Thor looked lost. 

It was a good last view of Asgard before Loki and Strange traveled through the ether.


	11. Back to the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go!

Tony was playing Rummy with Rhodey, Bruce and Natasha. Natasha was winning handily, but Tony chalked that up to the maintenance level of alcohol he had become accustomed to in the last week. Steve, Bucky and Clint were all playing Red Dead Redemption on the Playstation while Thor watched in puzzlement. The current Avengers’ mission appeared to be Operation Keep Tony Distracted. Tony would grant that they were doing a reasonable job of it, but he would have preferred something slightly more task-oriented. 

Unfortunately, every trail had looped into a dead end until they were standing right back where they started with nothing to show for it. They just had to trust that whatever predicament Loki and Strange had encountered that they could both make it back alive themselves. 

But this was his god, and if there was anything Loki knew, it was dramatic timing. Natasha had just called “Gin” for at least the eighth time when suddenly the team was staring at Loki and Strange standing in the middle of the living room, effectively cutting the soldiers off from their video game. Loki had a shit-eating grin on his face, scanning around at the frozen looks of shock. 

“Loki?” The god startled and looked over to where Tony’s voice was coming from. The grin faded a bit into something more uncertain. That hurt. Tony had almost put their spat right before Loki disappeared behind him. Loki, apparently, had not. 

“Miss me?” Loki asked then, turning back to the group at large. He barely got the question out before he was grasped into a fierce hug by Thor. Tony felt frozen on the chair he was currently occupying. Rhodey and Bruce were giving him nervous, questioning looks. They were obviously wondering why he wasn’t springing to his feet with glee. Rushing over to wrestle Thor away from his boyfriend. Tony wasn’t quite sure why he wasn’t either, actually. 

Loki had been working on the casual affection thing for months now, so he allowed the hug from his brother. For about five seconds. 

“Thor...” Loki warned, a dagger springing to his hand. Tony smiled. There was his guy. 

Thor pulled away, his hands up in a gesture of surrender, but he had a big smile on his face. Barnes started walking over to Loki with his arms open to indicate another hug was coming. Despite his general fondness for the man, Loki glared daggers at him and without missing a beat, Bucky changed his direction and pulled Strange into a hug. Loki didn’t even hide his enjoyment of Strange’s discomfort at the gesture. Tony didn’t either. 

“Damn it. They both came back. Did anyone call that?” Clint interjected. 

Bruce raised his hand, a small smile on his face. Clint, Natasha and Bucky all grumbled as they reluctantly walked over and tossed Bruce their money. Tony pulled out his hundred and added it to the pile. Steve looked on with a level of disappointment that only Captain America could manage. A look that never failed to delight Tony. 

Loki and Strange traded a matching look of confusion. It was oddly chummy for the two of them. Did Tony detect some manly bonding during their little shared adventure? Perhaps some good may have come of this. Tony supposed it was now his turn to greet Loki. Not that it wasn’t exactly what Tony wanted to do, of course. He wasn’t putting it off or anything at all. 

Tony got up and walked toward the wayward pair. He suddenly felt all eyes on him and Loki. The pressure of the gazes was insane, and Tony couldn’t take it. He turned at the last second to greet Strange first. 

“Look at you surviving one on one time with Loki.” 

Strange looked over at the man in question and grinned wryly. “I suppose he grows on you.” 

“Looks like we have more in common than being awesome facial hair bros.” Tony joked. 

“What have I done?” Strange asked in horror before walking away shaking his head. 

Tony turned perplexedly to Loki, who was fighting laughter. 

“Don’t mind him. It’s been a long couple of days.” Loki said finally. 

“Couple of days? As in, two?” Tony asked. Shit, no wonder Strange and Loki were acting so causally. 

Loki’s smile fell away, replaced with concern. “How long was it here?” 

“Seven days, eight hours, twenty-two minutes.” Tony said promptly. So, he counted. It was what he did. 

A look of pain crossed Loki’s face then. He stepped forward as if to draw Tony into a hug, but a quick glance around likely showed the god that all eyes were still on him. Tony saw the war of desire on Loki’s face, though likely no one else did. Finally, he made a decision and drew Tony into an embrace. 

Tony’s arms went around Loki’s waist automatically. He buried his face into the taller man’s clavicle. Loki’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and his cheek rested lightly on the shorter man’s head. Finally, the weeks tension just flowed out of Tony, dissipating into the tile below. The other people just fell away, and the world was Loki’s arms around him, his heartbeat in Tony’s ear. 

It was minutes? Hours? Days? Who the fuck cared? Later, Loki slowly pulled away so he could make eye contact. His hands never left Tony, though, moving from around his shoulders to cupping his neck. Both Tony and Loki looked around then, baffled to find themselves completely alone. 

“Who knew they were capable of learning discretion?” Tony said to break up the silence. 

Loki huffed a laugh, shook his head and pulled Tony in for a kiss. It was a deep kiss, but not overly sexual or fierce. It settled Tony far better than any words could. Loki was famously good with words. He could say a lot of things that meant nothing at all. But these gestures of intimacy, Loki never lied with these. He was here and he was Tony’s. That wasn’t even a question. 

“I am so sorry, Tony. I had no idea that the timelines were so disparate.” Loki said finally. “I never meant to leave you that long.” 

“Hey, no biggie. You got back as soon as you could.” Tony tried to wave it off, but Loki winced. Shit, he had delayed. Why had he delayed? Did he not want to come back? Did he only come back because of Strange? Where had he been that would keep him away? Or was it when rather than where? Or was it neither and the issue was just with Tony? He was babbling, but fortunately it was only in his head. As well as Tony knew that jumping to conclusions wouldn’t help the situation, it was still his first inclination. 

“Are you hungry? I’m starved. We’ve barely had the opportunity to eat.” Loki asked, instead of responding to Tony’s comment. Tony opened up his mouth to outright ask where Loki had been, but Loki held up a hand. “Let’s order food? As soon as we settle, I will give you the full story, I promise.” 

Tony put in an order with Friday for Lox and bagels which made Loki smile. Loki opened a bottle of wine for himself and got a glass of scotch for Tony, which wasn’t particularly unusual, but still put Tony on alert. Then Loki launched into the further adventures in alternate universes. He mostly focused on his and Strange’s interactions, as they were the only lasting consequences of the endeavor, but Loki didn’t shy away from telling him about the other Tony. The plot holes started appearing once Loki started talking about going to Asgard. Sure, finding out that it hadn’t been destroyed was interesting, but why had that necessitated him going there? 

Their food arrived, they ate and Loki continued to talk about Asgard and the people he saw and what he learned. Tony nodded along but all that was running through his head was why? Why? Why? 

Loki stopped speaking and appeared to be waiting for a response from Tony. 

“That’s neat, Lokes. Don’t get me wrong, alternate universes are nifty and I know you didn’t realize that it was longer on this side, but I just don’t understand why you delayed coming home to go wandering around Asgard. Were you avoiding me? Were you entertaining your options? Frankly, it’s all kind of baffling and really hard not to take personal. So, I feel like I really need to know where you are going with this now, because I can’t keep listening to these stories of you being all buddy-buddy with Strange and learning about Valkyrie and Thor actually getting together when I can’t help but wonder if you and I are even...” 

“Tony!” 

Tony realized that Loki had probably been calling his name repeatedly while he had been wandering around during his rant. Tony turned his attention back to his lover and gaped at what he saw. In Loki’s hand was a golden apple. It wasn’t an apple that was a golden yellow color, no, it was an apple that looked to be made of legit gold. Loki held it out before him, so uncomfortable that he was actually squirming. 

“Wait a minute. I thought you told me that the golden apples were a fairytale?” Tony asked suspiciously. Just what game was Loki playing here? 

“They are. This comes from no orchard; I made it myself with the Lifeline serum. But I just couldn’t help the symbology.” Loki explained, relaxing a bit. 

“So, this does what I think it does?” Tony asked, walking a bit closer. 

“It extends your life to near enough that of an Asgardian, or Jotun for that matter. With it comes increased strength, faster metabolism, an immunity to most ills, among other things.” 

“Magic?” Tony asked, neglecting the really big questions. 

“No, that would have been far too unpredictable.” Loki explained. 

Tony took a deep breath, preparing himself for the next bit. He walked up to Loki and took the apple from the god’s hand. Loki’s face brightened for a moment before Tony placed it firmly on the table. While Tony was that close to the man he had missed for a week, he couldn’t help but touch him. Tony shoved Loki firmly. He wasn’t nearly strong enough to manhandle the Jotun, but the surprise worked in his favor and Loki stumbled and caught himself sitting in the chair at the dining table. Tony allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction at Loki’s gaping face before he launched into his next rant. 

“What the hell is this, Loki? You are like the queen of mixed signals. Holy shit.” Tony started. 

“Queen?” Was apparently what Loki was choosing to focus on, raising an eyebrow at Tony as he questioned the word. 

“As in Drama Queen, princess. As in you. Seriously, you won't move in with me, but you make the equivalent of a marriage proposal? No, worse. This is far more serious than marriage. That would generally last maybe fifty years, you are talking thousands of years together! What are we just going to continue to do that living on separate continents? I mean, I like space as much as the next guy, but come on Lokes. It’s hard to agree to a timeline like that when I can’t even get you to commit to sharing my bed regularly. How did you really expect this to go?” 

Normally, Tony would be gleeful at being able to put a blush on his lover’s face. It didn’t happen often for anyone but Eir. But Tony was far from happy right now. Loki’s blush was a mix of shame, heartbreak and misery. 

“Bambi, I’m not saying no. I swear I’m not. I’m just saying we have things we really need to discuss.” 

That didn’t help, unfortunately. If anything, the god’s face went darker. 

“So, you have conditions then.” Loki stated tonelessly. 

“Ugh, do you always have to go to worst case scenario?” Tony groaned. Because of course, if Loki had to experience negative emotions, he’d chose anger every time. 

“If not that, then what?” Loki asked bitingly. 

“How about what kind of living arrangement you expect us to have for the next few thousand years?” Tony growled before he determinedly calmed down. Not for the first time Tony lamented that he was the more emotionally mature one in the relationship. It was a low bar to be sure. When Tony started talking again a moment later, his voice was back under control. “When I think of the future, Loki, it’s you. There’s no question in my mind about that. For however long forever ends up being. But I don’t want it to be quite like this. This being where I have no idea when you’re going to turn up every night or even if. I want you, is it really so crazy that I want you around on a consistent basis?” 

“No...” Loki said, drawing out the word uncertainly. “I just... Could I...?” 

Loki was uncharacteristically tongue-tied and Tony was very characteristically impatient. “Hey, I’ll move to New Asgard if this is about Thor or not liking the tower. Whatever I gotta do.” 

“No, I don’t want that. I like our tower. But... it’s mine.” 

Our tower was definitely a step in the right direction. But when Loki said ‘mine’ Tony got the feeling that he wasn’t talking about the tower anymore. When it hit him, he could have face-palmed. Of course, he was such a dumbass. As much as Loki probably liked the tower, it was very much Tony’s. It was a place where he was surrounded by the feeling of being second once again. Loki had been in that situation before, where he had all his eggs in just the one basket, and it went fantastically wrong. 

“Loki, I’m not saying you have to stay here every single night. Keep your room in New Asgard if it makes you happy. It’s not like I sleep in our bedroom every night, even when I do sleep. I travel, I sleep in the lab. I just want you to be able to call this place home, call me home. For our bedroom to be your default unless we decide otherwise.” 

“You mean, that’s it? I can still stay at New Asgard sometimes when I need to be alone? I can spar with Thor in the morning? I don’t have to be here all the time?” 

“Of course! It’s not like I’m Mr. Social 24/7. Damn, even I couldn’t imagine putting up with me all the time. That’s what I have alcohol for.” 

“I can do that.” Loki said finally. 

“Great,” Tony responded automatically. 

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. But it was one of those where Tony could just tell they were thinking the exact same thing. 

“Was it truly that simple?” Loki asked finally. 

“We’re complete idiots. Seriously, I think we need a relationship tutor.” Tony laughed, finally collapsing on the chair next to Loki in a wave of relief. 

They looked at one another for a moment. 

“Pepper?” Loki asked. 

“Pepper,” Tony agreed and they both laughed. 

Tony pulled Loki in for a kiss this time. Far less unsure than the last one. You could tell that on account of the increased tongue-action. When they broke away, Tony casually grabbed the apple from the table and tossed it a couple of times. 

“What’s the betting that this is the best tasting apple of all time?” Tony asked. 

“There’s only one way to find out.” Loki answered with a sly smile.

 

# The End

# 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for this little interlude. No big twist I just had the need for Tony to get his immortal on.
> 
> Speaking of getting it on... You'll notice I have one more chapter left. I'm normally super embarrassed to write smut and avoid it in general. But these boys just decided on their own that they needed a smutty epilogue to end this out and who was I to deny them after keeping them apart THE WHOLE DAMN FIC?
> 
> If that's not your jam feel free to skip, I totally get it. But please remember if you want to read any more to subscribe to either me or the Time Stone series. I've got at least two more follow ups cooking up that I'd hate for you lovely readers to miss!


	12. Epilogue: Superman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, smutty interlude. No need to read if it isn't your thing, there's no real plot beyond Tony and Loki enjoying Tony's new godly powers.

“What the hell, Loki?” The god in question looked up in mild annoyance at the disruption of his book. He was neck deep in the denseness that was the Silmarillion in his quest to gobble up everything Tolkien had written. Tony had waved it off and told him to just watch the movies, which of course Loki had, but movies could never replace a good book. Then again, Loki wasn’t entirely sure he would deem this a good book. The bible had been easier to read, or at least it had been when it was in the original hebrew. 

Tony was tapping his foot in annoyance and Loki realized that he had been in his own head for too long and hadn’t acknowledged him. 

“Yes, my impatient mortal?” Loki said finally. 

Tony snorted. “Not so mortal anymore. Which is kind of the problem here.” 

“You will always be ‘my mortal’” Loki said fondly. “But what is your problem?” 

“It’s seriously not going away and it’s fucking distracting.” Tony said, coloring slightly as he looked down at his groin. 

Yes, that particular part of Tony’s anatomy it seemed had taken to the lifeline serum Tony consumed three days ago with impressive aplomb. Loki couldn’t say he overly minded. Loki patted the cushion next to him on the couch and Tony collapsed onto it sighing, every muscle relaxing except for the obvious. 

“We’ve been over this, your body is resetting, bringing you back to your peak health, and therefore peak virility.” Loki said waggling his eyebrows. Book forgotten, Loki sidled into Tony’s lap, smirking as he shifted to get comfortable, moving maybe a bit more than he really needed to. He hummed with pleasure as he trapped Tony’s erection between them, his own hardening in response, lengthening beside Tony’s. “You didn’t seem nearly this put out when most of your wrinkles faded away.” 

Loki caressed the inventor’s face, thumbs tracing the corners of the eyes that he knew so well, slightly unfamiliar for their lack of lines, but no less dear. 

“Well, yeah. That’s awesome! Weird, but not exactly that noticeable on a regular basis. At least not by me.” 

Loki wrapped his hand around the noticeable body part in question. “Are you truly complaining?” 

Loki ran his fingers delicately up and down the still sweatpant-enclothed shaft. Jeans had been impossibly confining for the last few days, forcing Tony to wear either sweatpants, boxers or, more commonly, nothing at all. Tony shivered, his pupils dilated, and his eyes got slightly glassy. 

“Me? Complaining about sex? Couldn’t be. You must have me confused with someone else.” 

“Of course. I’m mixing you up with that other mortal superhero genius that I bestowed godly powers to.” Loki grinned and squeezed the hard flesh in his hand, delighting in the pulse of blood under his fingers and the groan from his love. 

Apparently done with being teased, Tony grabbed the bottom of the long-sleeved shirt Loki was wearing and pulled it up. The frantic motion succeeded in tearing the shirt right off the pale chest. Tony’s expression was a mix of arousal, sheepishness and pride. 

“Thank the Norns for magic. My wardrobe would be decimated before you got a handle on your strength.” Loki said, not at all put out about it, actually. But he couldn’t let on how much it turned him on; Tony had enough ego as it was. 

“Yeah, well, this wouldn’t be an issue if you’d just wear tank tops like I keep suggesting.” Tony responded petulantly, hands running up and down the smooth arms he so rarely got to see. The manwas obsessed with seeing Loki as uncovered as possible. It probably didn’t help that it really only happened when they were having sex. Correlation and all that. 

“Yes, well, just to be safe.” Loki vanished the rest of their clothing and Tony let out cry of glee. Tony’s deft fingers moved from Loki’s arms to trail down his chest, pausing to tweak nipples until they were flushed, and Loki’s breath caught, before continuing their path down the god’s body. 

Loki chuckled. “You are incorrigible, Stark.” 

“Less talking, more riding.” Tony panted. It really didn’t take much these days before he was ready to go. Quickly he was grabbing Loki’s hips and trusting in Loki’s magic to prepare the way as he lowered the other man onto his already straining erection. 

Easily Tony’s favorite thing about eating the apple, besides the increase in sex in general, of course, was that he could now manhandle Loki as easily as the god had done with the mortal before. Every time Loki had tossed Tony onto the bed before ravaging him or lifted the shorter man up into his arms for a kiss had been repaid tenfold. Loki either loved or hated it depending upon his mood. Currently, he was very much in favor as he slid down that thick length, controlled at every point by Tony’s strong arms. Loki loved Tony’s arms, and ran his own slender fingers up and down them appreciatively as Tony had done with him before. These arms weren’t the overblown bulges that most Asgardian men craved, nor were they the whipcord thin muscles that Loki had. They were somewhere in between, a firm strength that wasn’t overly obvious. 

But Loki couldn’t let Stark get away with controlling the situation entirely. As soon as he was fully seated, Tony pausing to allow him to adjust since they had done no traditional preparation, Loki rolled his hips, bucking out of Tony’s grip. The moan he got was very worth it. Tony’s hands returned immediately back to his waist, pulling him down as Tony arched his hips up, trying to get them impossibly closer. Loki couldn’t stay silent at that either. 

After a few more seconds of pleasurable grinding, Tony guided Loki’s hips back up for some pleasant friction and Loki eagerly obliged. They paused at the peak, Tony just barely still touching Loki’s rim before Tony pulled Loki quickly back down. They went on that way for a pleasant time, Tony slowly working him up and then pounding him back down. Soon Tony’s hands were just there for stability and he was back to letting Loki take the wheel, moving up and down at the perfect pace. Tony’s rhythm stuttered and Loki could tell the man was getting close, so he adjusted the angle so that each thrust would be hitting his prostate, his muscles unconsciously clenching harder on Tony’s cock. A bit more time in this overwhelmingly good position was all it took to have them both coming within moments of one another. 

It was quicker than their bouts of sex used to be. That had become the standard lately almost by necessity. When you were having sex more than ten times a day stretching it out took far more time and energy than they wanted to spare. Still, Loki let out a pleased sigh before rolling off. Tony whined at the amount of stimulation that motion caused so soon after his orgasm. Loki cleared them of their mess before settling his head in Tony’s magically clothed once again lap. Tony immediately started running his hands through Loki’s hair and for a very brief period, the couple was silent. 

“I’m pretty sure this all just means I’m the God of Sex.” Tony said finally. 

Loki snorted in amusement. “You wish! If anything, I am the god of sex. I have far more experience.” 

“Then again, if your stories are any indication, Thor would be the God of Sex if we were going off of experience.” Tony laughed. 

“True, but that is giving him far too much credit.” Loki wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Anyways, my increased variation far outweighs his superior numbers. I still win.” 

Tony nodded, conceding the point and they went back to contented, cuddly silent. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Loki. “You know, Thor is the new All-Father. That means he would be the one to give you your godly title.” 

“There’s no way I am asking my equivalent of a brother-in-law to name me the God of Sex. Even Tony Stark doesn’t have that little shame.” 

“Or that big of balls.” Loki added. Tony glared at him for a moment, before shrugging in acknowledgement. 

“God of Robots it is!” 

Loki groaned at the ridiculous statement. He couldn’t roll his eyes as they were currently closed to properly enjoy the scalp massage he was getting. Internally, he was practically alight with pleasure both at the motions of his lover’s hands and his silly words. Yes, this was exactly what Loki had signed up for. Forever.


End file.
